The Bretton Woods Project and partners from around the world are launching imfboss.org, a new website dedicated to tracking the leadership selection processes at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With the IMF's current Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Khan involved in a media storm, the debate over the IMF's anachronistic and unfair selection process has been reopened.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First shapes how people think by analysing the root causes of global hunger, poverty, and ecological degradation and developing solutions in partnership with movements working for social change. You can subscribe to their newsletter by clicking on the URL provided.

‘I challenge every one of us to at least talk to one person you know about homosexuality. I’m not asking you to come?out, just yet, even I am struggling with that. But just try and? communicate our fears and insecurities as a minority group,’ writes Kenyan sister Esther Adhiambo, in a piece marking International Day Against Homophobia on 17 May.

A multi-national study shows that if an HIV-positive person starts taking antiretroviral therapy early on, that is, when their CD 4 count is still high, their chances of infecting their HIV-negative partner can decrease by as much as 96 per cent. The results of the study are viewed as confirmation of untested wisdom among clinicians who have for a number of years thought that people on combination antiretroviral therapy have a lower chance of transmitting HIV to their uninfected partners.

From the adoption of marriage laws in Argentina and Iceland, and the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court recognising rights of same-sex civil unions, to the issuing of a statement signed by 85 countries at the UN Human Rights Council condemning persecution on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, a lot of progress has been made the last year on recognition of LGBTI rights in the world. Though the number of countries criminalising same-sex sexual activities between consenting adults is still the same as last year, namely 76 (including the five which have the death penalty), it is becoming more and more difficult for homophobic states to defend their laws on the international stage. This was one of the conclusions of ILGA’s (The International Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual and Intersex Association) co-secretary generals Gloria Careaga and Renato Sabbadini in their foreword to the State Sponsored Homophobia report 2011.

On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, ARTICLE 19 has called on states to combat violence, discrimination and stigma directed against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons around the world by protecting and promoting freedom of expression and the right to information. ARTICLE 19 observes that lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons around the world face heightened levels of discrimination simply for expressing their sexual orientation and gender identity.

'The future for least developed countries lies in trade, productive capacity and governance more than in aid,' said Cheick Sidi Diarra, United Nations High representative for the Least Developed Countries, responding to criticism of the plan of action put forward as the UN conference on the world’s poorest nations drew to a close in Istanbul. Representatives of governments said they were optimistic that the Istanbul Programme of Action for the decade 2011 to 2020 will prove instrumental in seeing at least half of the 48 countries now classed as least developed leave that category in the next ten years. The civil society forum swiftly rejected the plan of action as inadequate. The NGO group said donors and development partners had avoided committing themselves to delivering on long-standing pledges to provide substantial financial support for LDCs.

A landmark study showing major reductions in HIV transmission among discordant couples due to early treatment may fail to have a significant impact on HIV prevention unless governments and donors are willing to turn the science into action, HIV advocates say. 'These are very exciting results that we hope will begin to change the debate and the discourse over the issues around HIV treatment and prevention,' Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), told IRIN/PlusNews. 'Coming right before the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in New York next month, we hope that the results will take the discussion from rhetoric to reality.'

The European Union, one of the major financiers of Amisom and the Somali Transitional Federal Government, has threatened to cut further support if the current office holders do not relinquish power when their term of office comes to an end in August. This has not gone down well with the East African Community, whose members Uganda and Burundi are providing the boots on the ground in Mogadishu, and feel that the proposed extension of the TFG’s mandate for another year, would help consolidate achievements in service delivery. Being a major financier, EU’s withdrawal will severely hamper efforts to pacify the war-torn country.

In preparation for the upcoming 2011 International Labour Conference (ILC), the International Domestic Workers' Network (IDWN) has prepared a pamphlet to rebut common arguments against passing the ILO Convention enabling rights and protections for domestic workers. Visit their website to read the full document.

The edition highlights the recent BRICS Summit, held in China. An article by Mr John Bailey provides commentary on the event following his media coverage of the proceedings. A second article by Peter Konijn then provides a review of the second international roundtable on health collaboration between China and Africa that took place in Beijing. Mandarin translations of original articles published through the newsletter are also to be incorporated into future newsletters. Three translated articles on China-Africa civil society cooperation within FOCAC, South Africa’s inclusion into BRICS and the recent World Social Forum are available in this month's edition. The April edition is available .

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

In this statement, the South Centre provides a counter argument to the idea that lower developed countries (LDCs) are not integrated in the world economy as the reason for their marginalisation. 'This is not true. Many LDCs have higher exports to GNP ratio than some developed countries. It is the way in which the LDCs are integrated in trade that has been a disadvantage. LDCs are too dependent on raw materials export, and prices of commodities have had a long-term trend decline, thus causing major revenue and income losses for LDCs.'

This UNDP paper explores the scale and composition of illicit financial flows from the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Illicit financial flows involve the cross-border transfer of the proceeds of corruption, trade in contraband goods, criminal activities and tax evasion. In recent years, considerable interest has arisen over the extent to which such flows may have a detrimental impact on development and governance in both developed and developing countries alike. The study’s indicative results find that illicit financial flows from the LDCs have increased from US$9.7 billion in 1990 to US$26.3 billion in 2008 implying an inflation-adjusted rate of increase of 6.2 per cent per annum.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Pascal Lamy has once again urged WTO members not to weaken the organisation, as members continue to stall on the final hurdles challenging the Doha development round of negotiations. South African Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has continually stated that South Africa would not make agreements under the round, which does not have a developmental agenda at the forefront. Other developing country member States have agreed that the Doha round has lost much of its developmental focus, with industrialised countries not willing to concede much to developing nations.

Nigeria should tear up World Trade Organisation free trade agreements and protect its domestic industries from foreign competition, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has said. 'We have to tear up WTO agreements and ask ourselves whether we were right to sign up to everything that's there,' Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi told an audience at Chatham House in London.

Kenya’s chief justice Evan Gicheru retired at the end of February last year, as mandated by the country’s new constitution. With no replacement appointed yet, George Kegoro asks what lies ahead for the judiciary.

The Zimbabwe Coalition of Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), Poverty Reduction Forum (PRF) and Women's Action Group (WAG) with the support of Reality of Aid (RoA) convened a CSO Consultative Meeting on the Implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PD) and the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) in Zimbabwe on 23 February 2011. The objective of the meeting was to identify Zimbabwean CSOs which are interested in Aid Effectiveness (hereafter AE) and the AAA and provide a platform for information sharing among them. Visit the Kubatana website for a report of the meeting.

Least Developed Countries do not need charity; they want more and smarter investments. This was the point of departure for the Fourth UN Conference for the world's poor countries (LDC-IV) begins in Istanbul, Turkey. Up to 8,000 delegates, including the leaders of the world's 48 least developed countries (LDCs), international aid agencies and development partners discussed solutions to abject poverty. Up to 900 million people are citizens of LDCs, half of them living on less than two dollars a day. Over the last decade, 60 per cent of the world’s refugees originated from the LDCs, according to the United Nations.