A new United Nations report on the outlook for the global economy over the next few months indicates that the robust growth seen in developing countries could be checked by the slowdown in the industrialised world. "This is really a downturn after four blessed years of relatively strong growth," said Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary general of UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development), which put out its annual report Thursday.

Are supply-driven or demand-led approaches to employment generation more successful in reaching poor women? This chapter in the Commonwealth Secretariat’s publication Mainstreaming Gender in Social Protection for the Informal Economy examines social protection schemes in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Since 1982, IDRC has assisted Canadian graduate students to undertake their thesis research in the field of international development. IDRC Doctoral Research Awards are intended to promote the growth of Canadian capacity in research on sustainable and equitable development from an international perspective. Normally, such research is conducted in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East or Asia.

Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on aid agencies that was imposed ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off over accusations that some were siding with the opposition. “The government has with immediate effect lifted the suspension of operations of private voluntary organisations and NGOs,” said a social welfare ministry statement.

Ecobank, the African regional banking group, has announced plans for the continent's biggest rights issue outside South Africa as rising wealth in the world's poorest continent spurs demand for banking services. The bank is seeking to raise $2.5bn on three west African exchanges - Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast - to expand its branch network across the continent in the first African rights issue in more than one country.

‘Equality and mutual benefit’ are reflected today in Chinese leaders’ frequent emphasis on aid as a partnership, not a one way transfer of charity, -quoted in Deborah Brautigam’s, China’s African Aid: Transatlantic Challenges\

India intends to be a partner in Africa’s resurgence- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh address to the Nigerian National Assembly in 2007

The rise of China and India has indeed created a new set of impulses in the international system. Not only are these two emerging giants making notable waves in the way that international finance, trade and investments are being shaped but also in the way that the rules, which govern the global governance regime are being influenced. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the realm of the international architecture on aid effectiveness. While the debate rages on around whether China and India are new or reemerging donors in the world today, their behaviour as development partners is certainly changing the global aid picture and most importantly in Africa.

Over the past several years, the politics of aid has been an overarching issue in Africa’s development debate. Since 2000 the Group of Eight industrialised rich states (G8) have been promising to double aid to Africa. Unfortunately these promises have largely been unfulfilled with the G8 countries opining that aid money has been misused by African recipients, or that African governments are not conforming to the conditionality of good governance and democratic reform. From the African side the prescriptive nature of the aid policy of traditional donors, their inertia and shifting of the goal posts around what constitutes this doubling of aid has been equally frustrating.

While the G8 and the DAC members are stumbling to find practical ways to ensure that aid is being effectively used to promote sustainable development across the continent, subtle changes are beginning to show with the increasing and deepening footprint of China and India across the continent. Their use of soft power coupled with generous financial packages, and notwithstanding the rhetoric of South-South cooperation has found traction amongst African leaders. But what really makes China and India attractive as development partners for many African governments is the parochial view that Beijing and New Delhi understand Africa’s development needs and are not preoccupied with setting high governance benchmarks that could undermine the delivery of aid, prolong the implementation of projects and emasculate development.

African countries and donors share the belief that aid has the potential to contribute to economic growth, reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, the way both donors and recipient countries are performing for delivery and use of aid undermine this potential. Some of the conditionalities imposed to aid recipient countries to access aid reduce the extent to which it can contribute to poverty reduction and achievement of the MDGs by forcing governments to implement policies that lead to unemployment, bad quality of public services and reduced capacity by citizens to access basic services. Privatisations, cuts in government expenditures in public services such as education and health and adjustment of prices of essential goods like water, electricity and transport to reflect market prices result in unemployment, shortage and lack of motivation of civil servants as well as incapacity of poor people to access these essential services are some examples of such conditions.

On the other hand, recipient countries still face challenges in ensuring good governance, adequate institutional capacity and coordination of activities at different levels. Corruption practices without an appropriate mechanism of imputing responsibilities, lack of coordination across sectors and weak institutions and systems combined with the absence or weak donors’ coordination and harmonisation practices undermine the full potential of aid.

Governments, international bodies and civil society renewed their commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS at the 17th International AIDS Conference, but they will have to work hard in order for this commitment to be reflected in concrete policies, especially on prevention.

The uptake of second-line antiretroviral treatment in developing countries is `stagnant` according to a survey by the World Health Organization presented at last week’s XVII International AIDS Conference, despite substantial cuts in drug prices over the past 18 months.

A new study finds that international project financiers, including the leading international banks and the International Finance Corporation, do not have a robust framework for minimizing the social risks posed by their projects. The study—"The International Finance Corporation's Performance Standards and the Equator Principles: Respecting Human Rights and Remedying Violations?"—notes that recently-adopted standards are not likely to reduce potential human rights-related conflicts that may arise in projects.

Have donors lived up to their pledges under the Paris Declaration? Is aid becoming more effective and accountable for impoverished people? This report for the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) focuses on progress against two principles of the Paris Declaration, ownership and accountability, in Cambodia, Honduras, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, and Sierra Leone.

The widespread use and development of genetically modified crops could lead to "the biggest disaster environmentally of all time," Prince Charles said Wednesday in an interview with a British newspaper. New experiments with GM crops could worsen food-supply problems, the heir to the British throne told the Daily Telegraph.

The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) is pleased to announce its new guide, Torture in International Law: A guide to jurisprudence - published jointly with the Center for Justice and International Law. The publication is available now on the APT website, and also in print form.

CACIM (Critical Action - Centre in Movement), based in New Delhi, India but active in local and global networking, and an initiative towards promoting criticality in socio-political action and movement by promoting a culture of critical engagement and reflection, is again offering four Fellowships on the World Social Forum process.

Much of Somalia's displaced population has scattered across rural villages, which are hard to reach because of rampant insecurity and limited resources, an international agency said, impeding aid delivery.

At the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this week, there has been a great deal of discussion about violence and discrimination directed at homosexuals and lesbians, often based on the mistaken assumption that they are responsible for the disease. Public health officials and organizations working to diminish the impact of AIDS around the world agree that more tolerant societies have better programs to combat AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.

The paper aims to provide information on the size, structure and significance of China-Zambia relations. It specifically studies the nature and scope of Chinese investment in Zambia, the pattern and magnitude of trade between China and Zambia.

There has been heated debate at the International AIDS Conference about how male circumcision should be promoted, following research that shows circumcised men have far less chance of getting HIV. The main fear is that, if promoted as a means of prevention HIV infection, men will believe that they are immune to HIV after circumcision.

On October 4, 2007, Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, became the new President of the Foundation supporting the World Organization against Torture (OMCT). Kofi Annan has always demonstrated a strong commitment to human rights and has stated his total opposition to torture. In accepting to become the new President of the Foundation supporting OMCT, he expressed his wish to be actively involved in initiatives defending human rights.

After hundreds of books, documentaries, sermons, and even university courses on modern slavery and human trafficking, people have begun asking, "What can I do to help?" In his latest book, Kevin Bales responds to that demanding question. Ending Slavery surveys the history of various anti-slavery movements, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of their strategies, as well as their failures and successes.