FAITH-BASED GROUPS PROPEL DEVELOPMENT, SAYS HEAD OF UN POPULATION AGENCY

Faith-based groups play a key role in promoting development, the head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said, stressing the need for stepped-up cooperation between the world body and religious organizations in boosting the welfare of the most vulnerable.

UNFPA is cognizant of "the profound moral authority that religious leaders have" and is aware of "the fact that religious organizations are the older social service providers humankind has known," Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the agency's Executive Director, said at a round table discussion yesterday with faith-based organizations.

Between 30 and 60 per cent of basic healthcare services in the developing world are provided by such groups, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), while the World Bank has found that in some instances, health and education services offered by the religious organizations are better than those of governments.

Given this evidence, "systematic, deliberate and focused" engagement between faith-based groups and the UN is crucial, Ms. Obaid said at the gathering in New York.

"Ad-hoc partnerships, and ones where the United Nations is a donor and the faith-based organization is one of many civil society partners, can be lost opportunities," she cautioned.

Therefore, the official said, a studied approach focusing on "culturally sensitive development" is essential to enhance any collaboration between the UN and religious groups to promote human rights.

Areas ripe for cooperation include HIV/AIDS, women's empowerment, maternal health, migration, humanitarian relief, reproductive health and gender-based violence, Ms. Obaid emphasized.
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NEW UN REPORT SPOTLIGHTS CHALLENGES TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN BALKANS

Economic development in the rural areas of several nations in the Western Balkans is being hindered by challenges related to agriculture, climate change and migration, according to a new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank.

The report, "The Changing Face of Rural Space: Agriculture and Rural Development in the Western Balkans," takes a look at the situations in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

It says that agricultural trade deficits are widening and climate change is putting pressure on agricultural resources. In addition, young people are increasingly migrating to urban areas or abroad in search of economic opportunities.

While the five countries are at different stages of development, they face similar challenges in modernizing their agricultural sectors to become competitive in regional and European markets.

"The agrifood sectors in these countries are undercapitalized and highly fragmented, dominated by small producers with unsophisticated production and quality control systems," says FAO's David Lugg, a co-author of the report. Processing capacity, a potentially critical part of the value chain, is also limited.

The report, intended primarily for policy-makers and donors in the region, notes that scarce credit or land, expensive inputs, degraded infrastructure and poor access to high-value markets are among the obstacles faced by some farmers.

At the same time, the report suggests that the prevailing challenges, as well as the region's ongoing process of integration with the European Union, are an opportunity.

"The need to meet EU food safety and other standards while addressing the food and financial crises is a powerful incentive for improving agricultural policy," it states. "Agriculture and rural development as sources of growth, employment and food security now need to be taken seriously."

Julian Lampietti of the World Bank also notes the need to look beyond agriculture at overall rural development in the region.

"What's needed is a balanced approach that emphasizes increased competitiveness of the agrifood sector while providing alternative income opportunities in rural communities to help future generations avoid the poverty trap," he says.

The report also calls on countries to come up with strategies to adapt to climate change, noting that the region is likely to face higher temperatures, reduced and more variable precipitation, and more frequent extreme climatic events, such as floods, droughts and heat waves.
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16 Million Africans Made Poor By Meltdown

"As the 19th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa opened Wednesday in Cape Town, South Africa, World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the global economic meltdown had further thrown a staggering 53 million people into poverty around the world. Sixty percent of that figure is in Africa, she said. But despite the painful effects of the economic slowdown, the crisis, according to her, still presented a remarkable opportunity for African countries to fast track growth in their economies...." [AllAfrica/This Day (Nigeria)/Factiva]

Reuters adds that "...earlier reform efforts had enabled to Africa to weather the global financial crisis better than feared, according to the World Bank. 'They've been able to withstand this crisis somewhat better than would have been expected because of those reforms and some of the important changes they had made in running their economies,' Okonjo-Iweala told the WEF...." [Reuters/Factiva]

Xinhua writes that "...Okonjo-Iweala said the impacts of the crisis on Africa are not abstract. She argued that the key issue is how to focus on the opportunity brought by the crisis to position Africa for long-term development. Okonjo-Iweala also stressed the importance of having the voice of African countries on the table...." [Xinhua/Factiva]

World Bank President Sees China Spurring Global Recovery.

"China's stellar growth could help pull the world out of its current economic slump, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday, while hailing the yuan's progress toward becoming a global reserve currency. With Chinese growth in the first quarter of 2009 exceeding most expectations, Zoellick said China could act as a catalyst for a global economic resurgence...." [Dow Jones/Factiva]

AFP adds that "... 'Any forecast in this environment is hazardous, but I think China is likely to surprise on the upside,' the former US trade envoy said....'By and large (China's growth) has not only been a stabilizing force, but a force that will pull the system (out of the downturn).' China's meteoric rise as a global economic player has boosted world trade in manufactured goods and provided western companies with an enormous new market for their products and services...." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Reuters adds that "...when asked in a question-and-answer session whether China might decrease its purchases of US treasuries, Zoellick warned against any abrupt, unilateral moves that could worsen an already fragile global financial situation. 'Over time, I think I could see China moving further in diversification of its reserves, but one has to recall that China has been very sensitive about maintaining its exchange rate versus the dollar and you can't do that unless you're buying dollars, and if you're buying dollars you're going to be holding dollar securities,' Zoellick said at [the International Economic Forum of the Americas] in Montreal...." [Reuters/Factiva]

Four Gulf States Sign Deal On Monetary Union

"The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) took a major step towards a single currency union on Sunday when four members signed a pact to create a joint monetary council after years of hesitation. Foreign ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia agreed at a Riyadh meeting to set up the council, a precursor to the ultimate goal of establishing a common currency.... Foreign ministers from Oman and the United Arab Emirates also attended the meeting but refused to sign on...." [Agence France Presse (6/7)/Factiva]

Arab News writes that "... 'The GCC Monetary Council will manage the transition toward monetary union, which is targeted to be operational in 2013,' said a GCC spokesman, Abdelaziz Al-Uwaisheg on Sunday. The original target date for minting a common currency was 2010, but that was later postponed so that member states could have more time to work out differences....The agreement will still have to be ratified by each of the four GCC governments of the remaining participants before it can be enacted...." [Arab News (Saudi Arabia, 6/8)/Factiva]

FT reports that "...the UAE withdrew from the proposed monetary union and plans for regional economic integration in May. It pulled out after Riyadh, the Saudi capital, was selected as the headquarters for the future regional central bank over Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE....Oman pulled out of plans for the monetary union in 2006...." [Financial Times (6/8)/Factiva]

Opinion: Three In One Solution

In an opinion piece published in the Times of India, World Bank Independent Evaluation Group Director General Vinod Thomas and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Vice-Chair Mohan Munasinghe write: "The economic crisis has quickly relegated global warming and global poverty once reliable headline generators down the list of priorities. But it is a mistake to think that governments should triage, that is, deal with poverty and the environment only after they have put the financial crisis behind us....We actually face a threefold global crisis: the economic downturn, rise in poverty and climate change. We cannot escape one without addressing the others....

But remarkably, the current crisis offers some unique opportunities that can be seized....First, this is the time for nations to reverse policies that sacrifice the climate in the name of immediate growth.... Second, this is the chance for countries to invest a sizable share of the stimulus packages in energy efficiency.... Third, this is the moment to make deals leading to a surge in financing for development and its effective use....

Policies aimed at immediate growth at the expense of social safety nets or greener investments will be suicidal. Economic, social and environmental dimensions of the recovery are no longer distinct goals with phased solutions. They are part of the same package of needed actions." [Times of India (6/8)/Factiva]

Poor Nations Desperate For Cash, World Bank Says

In an interview with the Globe and Mail, World Bank President Robert Zoellick says "... 'If the demand for our lending stays at the pace it looks like it is going to be at, it is more likely than not that we will need some sort of increase.'... Zoellick acknowledged that it's 'a challenge' to get the developed countries to consider the needs of others at the same time their own unemployment rates and debt levels are fast rising.

Demand for World Bank loans over the next year or more appears likely to be 'very, very high' because the ripples from the global recession are only now being seriously felt in Africa and other poorer regions.... 'In sub-Saharan Africa, you have no cushion,' Zoellick said. 'The harsh reality is they will feed the boy before the girl, that if they have some ability to keep someone in school, they will keep the boy and not the girl.'...

The bank's trade finance fund... is still short of the G20's goal by about $1.5-billion, Zoellick said. The idea is to raise pledges of about $5-billion to finance trade worth $50-billion over the next three years.... 'We need to build multiple poles of growth,' Zoellick said...." [Globe and Mail (Canada, 6/7)/Factiva]

Top Economies Signal Recession May Be Easing: OECD

"Leading economies are showing fragile signs that the economic crisis driving recession in many countries may be easing or have reached a low point, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday on the basis of April data. But the damaging effects of the global crisis are still worsening in many emerging economies, the OECD said.... Countries outside the 30-member OECD group 'still face deteriorating conditions, with the exception of China and India, where tentative signs of a trough have also emerged.'..." [Agence France Presse (6/8)/Factiva]

Dow Jones adds that "...the figures continue to point to a 'possible trough' for most developed economies as a whole, with the Composite Leading Indicator (CLI) for the OECD's 30 members rising for a second straight month to 93.2 in April from 92.7 in March.... Among the large developing economies, China once again showed the clearest signs of revival, with its leading indicator rising to 94.3 from 93.4. The leading indicators for India also rose in April to 93.9 from 93.5 in the previous month. Indicators for Brazil and Russia continued to fall, however...." [Dow Jones (6/8)/Factiva]

WORLD BANK Press Review for Friday, May 29, 2009

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World Bank To Bolster Sustainable Energy Role
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"The World Bank seeks to play a bigger role in sustainable energy projects around the globe including experimental carbon capture and storage (CCS) research, Vice President for Sustainable Development Katherine Sierra ... told Reuters on the sidelines of a carbon conference.

She said wind technology was 'penetrating' the energy mix in developing markets and solar energy was picking up despite high costs compared to fossil fuel-based electricity generation which creates the heat-trapping gasses blamed for global warming. Sierra said still-experimental CCS technology, which siphons carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plant or industrial exhausts and buries it below ground, may be an option for some developing countries which rely heavily on dirtier coal-based power. ...

Sierra said the World Bank has traditionally not funded 'pre-commercialized technology' such as CCS but rather focused on transferring proven green technology to developing states. But she said the Bank could help fund some CCS projects or studies, including geological surveys, as well as provide clients with know-how on creating renewable energy policies. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

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UN Labor Agency Says World Unemployment Could Rise By 50 Million In 2009
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"The ranks of unemployed could swell by 50.4 million worldwide this year because of the global downturn, the UN labor agency said Thursday. ...

The agency urged governments to make job creation part of their stimulus packages to avoid the worst-case scenario. It said 29 million jobs could be saved if companies are given an incentive to retain their workers. The worldwide number of unemployed by the end of the year will range between 209.6 million and 239 million, the agency said in an update to its annual Global Employment Trends report. ..." [The Associated Press/Factiva]

Reuters adds that "...The forecast represents a global unemployment rate of 6.5-7.4 percent, it said in an update to its Global Employment Trends, and compares with a forecast of 6.3-7.1 percent in the last estimate in March and a 5.9 percent rate in 2008. ...

'We are seeing an unprecedented increase in unemployment and the number of workers at risk of falling into poverty around the world this year,' International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General Juan Somavia said in a statement. ...He told a news conference it was important for government policies to ensure that the lag between job creation and return to growth was not too wide. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

AFP notes that "...According to the latest ILO report, the bulk of the newly unemployed would come from developed economies and the EU. 'The region is likely to account for 35 to 40 percent of the total global increase in unemployment, despite accounting for less than 16 percent of the global labor force,' said the report. ...

Somavia said there were 'signs of initial impact' from stimulus packages launched by governments to lift the world economy out of the slump. But he warned of a 'serious job situation that could last for six to eight years if no actions are taken,' urging countries to sign up to a 'global jobs pact.'..." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

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UN Report: Investing In African Agricultural Sector Most Effective In Tackling Economic Recession
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"Investing in Africa's agricultural sector is the most effective way to tackle the economic recession that threatens the continent's progress toward attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals...said this year's report, jointly published by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AU), which is entitled Developing African Agriculture through Regional Value Chains.

The impact of the global financial crisis and economic recession has significantly lowered demand for Africa's exports, choking commodity prices and stifling growth. ... But agriculture holds a beacon of hope. The agricultural sector provides 25 to 35 percent of Africa's gross domestic product, 60 percent of Africa's employment and is the main source of income in rural areas, said the report. ..." [Xinhua/Factiva]

Kyodo News notes that "...African countries will also witness a drop in capital inflows such as aid and foreign direct investment, the report said, adding they need sound domestic policy as well as continued aid flow and targeted financing facilities from international financial institutions." [Kyodo News (Japan)/Factiva]

AFP adds that "...The report said that the global slowdown has resulted in lower demand for Africa's exports and a sharp decline in commodity prices, making it even harder to tackle poverty. 'In order to cut public spending and maintain fiscal stability, many countries will be forced to reduce spending on development projects and cut some services,' it said. ...

Inflation is expected to slow this year due to lower energy and commodity prices, the report added, but drought will continue to affect some countries and food prices will remain 'above historical levels'. According to the study, the hardest-hit region will be southern Africa with just 1.2 percent growth. ..." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

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Commentary: IT Makes Poverty A 'Curable Affliction'
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A commentary by UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Development Program Director of the Bureau for Development Policy Olav Kjorven published in the FT writes: "The quest to put information and communications technologies (ICTs) to work in fighting poverty began at the same time as the internet revolution 20 years ago. Two decades of hits and misses later, the idea of 'being connected' has evolved enormously for nearly everyone on the planet. ...

It is the wrong approach for rich countries to ship used computers, gadgets and ideas to poor countries, to fill a physical and virtual gap. Instead we should focus on working with developing country partners on the social, economic and political gaps already identified - the main stumbling blocks to achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals - and use ICTs to help build solutions. ICTs, therefore, are a means and not an end. ...

Figuring out how to deliver public services such as water, health and education comes up time and again in the MDG targets, so how can ICTs help? ...

Mobile phones are expanding the frontiers in getting basic public services to the people most in need. In Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, a health worker can now text basic health information and services to a rural community of 250,000 people 60kms away.

Using recycled phones and working in tandem with the local public hospital, this project means that help is now getting through to tuberculosis and other patients who would otherwise never get treatment.

ICTs also make private services such as banking affordable, accessible and available to more poor people in the developing world. Mobile banking - or 'm-banking' - allows millions of people living far from any bank branch to use mobile phone credits to access financial services. ...

Do these innovative examples help to reduce poverty? In effect, yes. By reducing the obstacles poor people face and increasing their choices and opportunities, ICTs help shore up the simple idea that extreme poverty and gross disparities of opportunity are not inescapable features of the human condition but a curable affliction.

Eradicating poverty is far more than a mouse click away, but by being smart and imaginative in how we link development challenges with new technologies, we could shorten the journey ahead." [The Financial Times (UK)/Factiva]

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Also in this Edition... Briefly Noted...
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A group of Mozambique's nineteen development partners have pledged to provide a $804.5 million aid package to support the 2010 state budget and development projects, Noticias newspaper said on Friday. Under the agreement with the Program Aid Partners (PAP), Mozambique's government has committed itself to continued poverty reduction, democracy and the respect of human rights. [Reuters/Factiva]

France Minister for Ecology, Jean-Louis Borloo, was to announce on Thursday 28 May in Nairobi at the meeting of African ministers of environment, an initiative on energy. Entitled 'Energizing Africa: from Dream to Reality', the plan aims to develop electricity on the continent while fighting against climate change. [Le Monde (France)/Factiva]

International oil companies will be invited to bid for concessions in Brazil's enormous pre-salt oil fields as early as next year, Mines and Energy Minister Edson Lobao, told the FT. Brazil stopped selling concessions in the offshore pre-salt area, which oil industry executives say will rival the North Sea in size and importance, soon after their discovery in 2007. [The Financial Times (UK)/Factiva]

Argentina's government is coming under pressure to ban the chemical used in the world's best-selling herbicide, which has helped turn the country into an important world food exporter in the past decade, after new research found that it might be harmful to human health. [The Financial Times (UK)/Factiva]

Russian Railways is in talks with the World Bank on guarantees for its bond issue and plans to raise $500 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the firm's CEO said on Friday. [Reuters/Factiva]

India's economy grew a better-than-expected 5.8 percent in the first three months of 2009 - the last quarter of the financial year, driven by strong growth in the finance and property sector, and a surge in social spending. Growth from January to March 2009 picked up from the previous quarter, when growth had slowed to 5.3 percent. [The Financial Times (UK)/Factiva]

The World Bank's executive director's board approved $600 million to Turkey for a private sector renewable energy and energy efficiency project, the Bank said in a statement on Friday. The project seeks to help increase privately owned and operated energy production from renewable sources and curb greenhouse gas emissions as a result. [Reuters/Factiva]

International scientists say they have found the first evidence of resistance to the world's most effective drug for treating malaria. They say the trend in western Cambodia has to be urgently contained because full-blown resistance would be a global health catastrophe. Drugs are taking longer to clear blood of malaria parasites than before. [BBC News (UK)]

Austria confirmed Thursday that it had nominated EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner as a candidate to become the new director general of UNESCO. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

A US Congress decision on International Monetary Fund gold sales could be a week away, a spokesman at the US Senate Committee on Appropriations said late Wednesday. The final process to decide could begin as early as Monday and may take a week to finalize, he told Dow Jones Newswires. [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Global development leaders hope to find novel ways to raise funds for poor countries through mechanisms such as taxing currency transactions, delegates at the Paris Leading Group on Solidarity Levies to Fund Development conference said on Thursday. [Reuters/Factiva]

Nearly one-third of the natural gas yet to be discovered in the world is north of the Arctic Circle and most of it is in Russian territory, according to a new analysis led by researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey. [The Associated Press/Factiva]

SOME AIDS WORK IN AFRICA ‘MISMATCHED’ FROM ACTUAL CAUSES, SAYS UN-BACKED REPORT

SOME AIDS WORK IN AFRICA 'MISMATCHED' FROM ACTUAL CAUSES, SAYS UN-BACKED REPORT
New York, May 27 2009 12:00PM
The publication of potential "mismatches" between prevention strategies and the actual causes of HIV/AIDS in some African countries has already helped to improve efforts to combat the disease, according to the lead United Nations agency on the issue.

The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (<"http://www.unaids.org/en/">UNAIDS) said that a series of reports from Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland and Uganda showed a "relative lack of evidence-based policies and programmes."

On Lesotho, for example, which has the third highest adult prevalence in the world, the study shows that there is an 'exceptionally high' number of multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships before and during marriage, UNAIDS <"http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/archive/2009/20090512_UNAIDS_WB_epi.asp">said.

"Yet, according to the report, national prevention strategies do not explicitly address concurrent partnerships and no activities are designed specifically for adults, married couples and people in long-term steady relationships."

Meanwhile, the agency noted that efforts in Kenya are aimed at the general population. "Even where the evidence shows a clear need for it, Government funding aimed at other most-at-risk groups, such as sex workers, their clients, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users is 'negligible or non-existent,'" UNAIDS said.

At the same time, some countries under study have already begun to adapt. Uganda, for example, recommended the establishment of clear policies, standards and guidelines to improve counselling and testing services, IEC (information, education and communication) and behaviour change interventions for married and long-term sexual partners, people living with HIV and at-risk groups.

"Swaziland also recommended that married, cohabiting and steady couples be acknowledged as a priority population and, further, that stronger political leadership for HIV prevention be exercised in order to build widespread engagement to address the complex norms underlying the level of vulnerability to infection in the country," UNAIDS said.

"The leadership demonstrated by the countries that have undertaken this analytic work is a first and important step towards building effective prevention strategies," said Mark Stirling, Director of UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa.

The Analysis of Prevention Response and Modes of Transmission Study series is supported by national AIDS authorities, UNAIDS and the World Bank. Mozambique and Zambia are preparing forthcoming reports.

Debrework Zewdie, Director of the World Bank's Global HIV/AIDS Unit, said, "These syntheses use the growing amounts of data and information available to better understand each country's epidemic and response, and identify how prevention might be more effective. They are guiding the programmes we support."
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Commentary: Poverty's Two-Way Street.

A commentary by World Bank Director Moving out of Poverty project Deepa Narayan published in the NYT writes: "...The common perception about poverty is that we are slowly pulling people out of it. The truth is otherwise: Though the world pulls many millions out of poverty each year, it counteracts those gains by sending millions who were not poor into poverty. We must understand this two-way highway if we genuinely aspire to end poverty.

A study we conducted at the World Bank, Moving Out of Poverty: Success from the Bottom Up, sought to survey this two-way highway, investigating who escapes poverty, who falls in, and why. Among our diverse findings, two striking truths stood out.

The first is that poor people, contrary to their image in the developed world, are born capitalists in the Horatio Alger mold, more capitalist than the average New Yorker or Londoner. They believe in the power of their own effort - they try and try, and even if they are foiled or cheated, they try again. Though the poor are commonly believed to be fatalistic, our conversations with 60,000 poor people in 15 countries showed this to be patently untrue. ...

But as millions rise out of poverty, millions fall in - partly because 'free markets' are not free enough, and partly because of the lack of healthcare. ...

Unable to access markets, poor people lurk on the fringes, work for low wages, sell in small quantities at low prices, unable to compete, accumulate assets or make tomorrow any different from today. And, because they hover so closely above the poverty line, a sudden shock - typically a death or illness - can wipe out years of modest progress. ...

Even after years of hard work, poor people have few permanent assets. A shock blows them under, as they borrow what they can from a local money lender who is also the landlord, who happens to run the local shop and who is in local politics as well.

Wealthy countries are clamping down on markets and centralizing government programs. The poor need something quite different: bigger, better access to free markets designed to work for them. They do not need centralized government, but active local government that provides basic services - particularly affordable healthcare - government that helps rather than hinders." [The New York Times/Factiva]

France, Germany Urge More Flexible Climate Pact.

"France and Germany suggested on Monday that rich nations should collectively guarantee deep cuts in greenhouse gases by 2020 while giving flexibility to laggards such as the US to catch up later. ...

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told a news conference on the first day of the two-day talks among ministers, called by US President Barack Obama to help work out a new climate treaty. He said France and Germany reckoned that developed nations could collectively sign up to cut their overall emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 ...

Countries which have said they cannot reach such deep 2020 goals, led by the US, could contribute to a new pact in other ways, for instance via a bigger share of financing or green technologies for developing nations, Borloo said. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

Deutsche Welle reports that "...German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, however, that developing countries were also still not ready to commit to decreasing carbon emissions. 'The longer it takes for industrialized nations to have a common position, the longer we will have to wait until China and India move (on climate change),' he said in Paris. ...

'The world's destiny will probably be at stake in Copenhagen,' Borloo said. 'Copenhagen is not a retrograde vision, it's not the start of negative (economic) growth, but a new start for strong, sustainable, sober carbon development.' ..." [Deutsche Welle (Germany)/Factiva]

In a separate piece, Reuters notes that "Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be needed to help poor nations curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change under a new UN treaty, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

'Everybody agreed that additional money is needed and without money an agreement in Copenhagen will not be possible,' Dimas told Reuters after the first day of a two-day meeting of 17 major greenhouse gas emitters in Paris on Monday. ...

The EU will debate climate finances at a summit on June 18-19 after delays partly caused by recession that has hit state coffers. EU leaders have previously agreed to contribute their fair share to developing nations, Dimas said.

Asked how much cash he reckoned was needed to help curb emissions, Dimas noted a European Commission document in January quoted independent researchers' estimates of net global incremental investments of EUR 175 billion ($245 billion) by 2020. Half of that total would be needed in developing nations. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

CUT RED TAPE TO INCREASE EXPORTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC, UN-BACKED CONFERENCE CONCLUDES

CUT RED TAPE TO INCREASE EXPORTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC, UN-BACKED CONFERENCE CONCLUDES
New York, May 22 2009 2:00PM
A reduction of export red tape by Governments in the Asia-Pacific region will lead to an increase in exports from areas hard hit by the global financial crisis, said participants at a United Nations-backed trade conference today.

The 20-22 May meeting in Beijing on small and medium size enterprises, sponsored by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia- Pacific (<"http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2009/may/g37.asp">ESCAP), concluded that bureaucratic procedures are particularly hard for smaller companies.

"They simply do not have the capacity to deal with complex and opaque procedures," said Ravi Ratnayake, Director of the Trade and Investment Division for ESCAP.

"Recent research at ESCAP finds that a 5 per cent reduction in the cost associated with preparing export documents and moving goods from the factory to the ship may lead to increase in exports of 4 per cent or more," Mr. Ratnayake said.

"The hidden costs of trade are high – in some cases up to 15 per cent of the value of goods traded," he said.

John S. Wilson, Lead Economist at the World Bank's Research Department said that "trade facilitation reform matters a great deal to development," adding that "World Bank research estimates, for example, gains of over $400 billion in global GDP with increased transparency in trade in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation bloc alone."

The forum also recommended speeding up the computerization and automation of trade documentation and procedures to slash the time, cost and uncertainties related to moving goods across borders.

Participants at the ESCAP gathering said small- and medium-size firms are typically not well represented in policy making forums.
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Poor Countries 'Far From Ready' For Flu Pandemic.

"Africa is 'far from being ready' for a pandemic of H1N1 flu, and developing countries in Asia and Latin America will need help accessing life-saving drugs and vaccines, top health officials said on Monday. Addressing the World Health Organization's annual congress... Nigeria's delegate said African countries would face major difficulties responding to an outbreak of H1N1 flu, which has caused mild symptoms in most patients but may be especially threatening to people with HIV/AIDS and other diseases...." [Reuters/Factiva]

Xinhua adds that "...international cooperation must be carried out for a global response to the current A/H1N1 influenza outbreak, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said Monday.... Chen also called for more international support for developing countries' health sector. 'The implementation of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has made important progress, but great challenges sill lie ahead,' he told delegates at the meeting. 'The MDGs are strong commitments made by governments around the world, and the shared responsibility for the whole international community,' he added...." [Xinhua/Factiva]

FT reports that "...vaccine manufacturers will hold talks with public health officials Tuesday to discuss price discounts and unprecedented joint manufacturing arrangements to help limit the effects of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in poorer countries. In a meeting with WHO Director-General Margaret Chan representatives from GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Baxter and other vaccine producers will seek clarity on regulation and funding as they debate how best to respond to the virus...." [Financial Times/Factiva]

Brazil And China In Plan To Axe Dollar.

"Brazil and China will work towards using their own currencies in trade transactions rather than the US dollar, according to Brazil's central bank and aides to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president. The move follows recent Chinese challenges to the status of the dollar as the world's leading international currency.... An official at Brazil's central bank stressed that... what was under discussion was not a currency swap of the kind China recently agreed with Argentina and which the US had agreed with several countries, including Brazil...." [Financial Times/Factiva]

AFP adds that "... 'It's absurd if two important trading nations such as ours continue to carry out our commerce in the currency of a third nation,' Lula said in an interview published in the most recent issue of China's Caijing magazine.....China - an energy-hungry nation that is hugely interested in Brazil's natural resources - in March became the Latin American nation's biggest trading partner, ahead of the US. Brazilian exports to China - mainly iron ore and soya products - so far this year have grown 65 percent over the same period in 2008, a jump from $3.4 billion to $5.6 billion...." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

AP reports that "...in an editorial in Tuesday's official China Daily, Lula said emerging economies like Brazil and China had a responsibility to help build a 'more just and fair international order.' The two nations should be 'fully aware of Brazil's and China's shared responsibility to help bring about the fundamental reforms in global governance that the world so urgently needs,' Lula wrote...." [Associated Press/Factiva]

World Bank Lending Poland $3.75 Billion For Reforms.

"The World Bank is lending Poland a total of $3.75 billion, in three tranches, to help the country finance its structural reforms, the bank said in a statement Monday. Last December, the World Bank and Poland signed an agreement on the first tranche of the Development Policy Loan, and the parties are in talks on details for tranches two and three, said World Bank spokeswoman Anna Kowalczyk. 'We expect to pay out the second tranche this year,' she added...." [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Polish News Bulletin adds that "...during his visit to Warsaw, World Bank President Robert Zoellick...met with Polish central bank (NBP) head Slawomir Skrzypek and Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski. 'We discussed loans which would not be granted directly to the government, but the government would issue guarantees for them. One particularly important such initiative would be an around $500 million loan for PKO BP, the aim of which would be to enhance the development of small and medium businesses,' he said...." [Polish News Bulletin/Factiva]

In related news, FT writes that "...Poland's external financing needs are much smaller than previously thought, according to a new study by the country's central bank .... In a report released on Monday, the central bank concluded that external debt due this year comes to $86.6 billion.... Zoellick said, 'The most recent numbers show that Poland has held up better than others, in part because of consumer spending.'..." [Financial Times/Factiva]

World Bank Head: Global Growth May Resume Late '09.

"The pace of decline in the global economy is set to slow and it could see resumed growth as early as late 2009, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Monday....'My sense is that, while we will still have declines, the rate of the declines (in the global economy) will lessen,' Zoellick said...." [Reuters/Factiva]

EFE adds that Zoellick "...rejected the predictions of some experts that economic recovery is delayed until 2011....Zoellick said that the collapse of the world economy 'is losing its rhythm' but emphasized that the crisis is day-by-day and recognized that there continues to be financial 'uncertainty'...." [EFE/Factiva]

La Republica writes that in addition "...Zoellick said that growth in China could be better than expected thanks to government measures to stimulate demand.... [In Eastern and central Europe,] 'in the short term, the crisis will dry up foreign direct investment' Zoellick said ...." [La Republica (Colombia)/Factiva]

UN Chief Urges Action On Growing Climate Change Risk.

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for decisive action to reduce the growing impact of climate change as he launched on Sunday [in Bahrain] a global assessment of ways to minimize the risks from natural disasters.... 'As a result of global climate change, weather-related hazards are on the rise and we must act decisively,' Ban said, urging governments to do more to reduce the risks, which affects most the poor...." [Agence France Presse (5/17)/Factiva]

The NYT adds that "...smaller or poorer countries can be devastated by disasters that are relatively inconsequential in places shielded by size or wealth, said [the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction].... The UN report... offers hints of progress. While the economic cost from disasters has risen, the cost as percentage of the global economy has been flat. The mortality rate has been declining in many areas. But in hot spots combining dense populations with the risk of earthquakes, floods and other hazards, the potential for catastrophic impact is growing...." [The New York Times (5/17)/Factiva]

Gulf Daily News writes that "...last year alone, 236,000 people lost their lives in over 300 disasters, Ban said..... Asia was hit especially hard. Nine of the top 10 countries with the highest number of disaster-related deaths were in Asia.... For example: 75 percent of those who die from floods live in just three countries - Bangladesh, China and India, cited Ban...." [Gulf Daily News (Bahrain, 5/18)/Factiva]

IMF Boosts Loan To Serbia To EUR2.9 Billion.

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday it had sharply increased its loan to Serbia to EUR2.9 billion to help the country cope with a worse-than-expected impact from the global economic crisis. The IMF's initial, 15-month Stand-By Arrangement financing for Serbia, approved on January 16, had been set at $394 million...." [Agence France Presse (5/16)/Factiva]

Reuters adds that "...the agreement allows for the immediate release of about $1.07 billion, the IMF said, also noting that the agreement will last through mid-April 2011. The IMF said Serbia's external and financial environment has deteriorated 'abruptly and relentlessly' since the original loan agreement was designed in late 2008...." [Reuters (5/16)/Factiva]

Dow Jones reports that "... 'With the global economy in recession, Serbia's exports and imports have plunged, and capital flows have largely dried up. The outlook has deteriorated markedly and remains subject to downside risks. Economic activity is likely to shrink this year, with limited prospects of recovery in 2010,' IMF Deputy Managing Director Murilo Portugal said in a statement...." [Dow Jones (5/16)/Factiva]

World Bank To Give Zimbabwe $22 Million Grant.

"The World Bank will soon make its first grant to Zimbabwe since the country's politicians agreed to a power-sharing deal, but said on Monday it would provide loans only after arrears were cleared. World Bank Regional Executive Director Toga Gayewea McIntosh said the $22 million grant should be available in the next few weeks and that small grants would be offered for now...." [Reuters (5/18)/Factiva]

AFP adds that "...McIntosh said the Bank would be prepared to discuss a more 'substantial amount of money' if Zimbabwe made progress toward clearing its arrears. 'The first task is to see how Zimbabwe can get on with debt reduction,' he said.... Zimbabwe owes the World Bank and the African Development Bank $1.4 billion, the Paris Club $3 billion, while external debt is currently $5 billion, according to Finance Minister Tendai Biti.... Biti said technical assistance from the Bank would help Zimbabwe repair its crumbling infrastructure...." [Agence France Presse (5/18)/Factiva]