2013
UNCTAD: now the real news. Don't expect it to be good
If you're tired of the low-science/no-science (Chicago School) global economic analysis practised by the World Bank and such, take a look at UNCTAD's trade and development report published on 12 September 2013.
Is the U.N. ready for Web 2.0?
Is the U.N. ready for the digital revolution, with its fundamental impact on e-democracy and open government?
To judge from a one-day conference organized by the DiploFoundation and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) on 19 June 2013, the answer is: not for a long time yet.
Hungry for headlines
The BBC's Ruth Alexander, who last year did a takedown on the $1 a day poverty line promoted by the World Bank*, has now taken aim at the G8 campaigners claiming that a child dies every 10 seconds from hunger.
World Bank Business Report: good or evil?
For a development liberal, it's hard to know which way to jump in the controversy over the World Bank's Cost of Doing Business Report.
Since 2003 CoDB has made itself a key publication for both development economists and journalists -- by no means a common feat. The Bank even uses it to decide on lending to low-income states.
Now its survival seems under threat.
U.N. Committee condemns Vatican again
For the second time this year, the U.N. has condemned the Vatican for its failures to deal with the sexual abuse of children by its priests. But the Holy See doesn't seem to have learned anything from the firestorm about how to face its critics.
New US threat to cut off WHO funding
The US Commission on the theft of American (= U.S.) Intellectual Property has recommended the Administration threaten to cut off funding for the World Health Organization, worth an estimated $350 million.
