WTO workshop on Aid for Trade, sustainable development and green economy
WTO News, 29 February, 2012

A workshop on Aid for Trade, sustainable development and the green economy was held at the WTO on 29 February 2012. At the end of the workshop, attended by WTO members and representatives of other international organizations, the Chair of the Committee on Trade and Development concluded that Aid for Trade contributes to sustainable development but much more needs to be done to make green growth a reality. More...

Pascal Lamy: A growth plan for Europe to exit the crisis
WTO News, 29 February, 2012

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in a speech at the Bruegel Institute in Brussels on 29 February 2012, said: "If Europe wants to exit the current crisis, it has to restore economic growth by finding its full place in the global economy. This requires two complementary reforms. First, the EU needs to become a real policy actor, with independent fiscal resources. Second, the EU's public policies should focus on improving the competitiveness of European firms in global markets." More...

ADB in Talks for at Least $12 Billion Development-Fund Needs
Bloomberg, 22 February, 2012

The Asian Development Bank said it is in talks with donor countries to fund at least $12 billion required for loans and grants to projects in poor countries from 2013 to 2016. More...

World cannot sustain increasing population growth: UN report
People and Planet, 21 February, 2012

The UN High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, established in 2010 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, warns that the lives of up to 3 billion people could be at risk, and calls on governments to act now as a matter of urgency to tackle sustainable development ".  More...

Millennium Development Goals: India makes progress in 10 out of 22 indicators
The Economic Times, 18 February, 2012

With roughly three years left for India to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the country has managed to show significant progress in 10 of the 22 indicators. With impressive gains in improving primary education enrollment rate, promoting gender equality and increasing forest cover, the country's lackluster performance in reducing overall poverty and health indicators has dragged down the performance of the overall South Asian region." More...

Asia-Pacific winning fight against poverty
The Himalayan Times, 17 February, 2012

The Asia-Pacific region has made great strides in reducing poverty and is moving fast towards other development goals, but levels of hunger, and child and maternal mortality are still high, according to a United Nations and Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.  More...

Millenium Development Goals hard to achieve: UN
Deccan Herald, 17 February, 2012

Though it has gained remarkably in spreading primary education and containing AIDS, India is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for reduction of hunger as well as chid mortality, says the latest United Nations report.  More...

India's Economic Growth Leaves Starving Children Behind
International Business Times, 16 February, 2012

India's economy, a paragon of development, has more than tripled over the past 20 years. But India's economic miracle has not been able to improve the number of children that are severely malnourished. Forty-two percent of children under the age of five are underweight, according to a recent government survey.  More...

Pascal Lamy: Strong competition policies key to a dynamic and healthy market economy
WTO News, 16 February, 2012

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his remarks at the OECD Global Forum on Competition in Paris on 16 February 2012, said that "strong competition policies are an essential element of a dynamic and healthy market economy that yields expanding opportunities and contributes to rising standards of living for all citizens." He added that "such policies play a crucial role in ensuring that the benefits of trade opening are not undermined by collusive behaviour among firms, or by other anti-competitive practices." More...

Pascal Lamy: Keeping markets open is good global citizenship
WTO News, 04 February, 2012

Pascal Lamy, Director-General, WTO, in his address to the Jubilee Conference of the National Committee for International Co-operation and Sustainable Development of the Netherlands on 4 February 2012, commended the Netherlands for "its commitment to development assistance and supporting the use of trade as a tool for growth and poverty reduction". More...