Small steps and big goals: Two countries' experiences in achieving MDGs 4 & 5

Source: World Health Organization (Press Release)

MANILA, 21 December 2010—Complex problems can sometimes be solved with simple solutions. For maternal and child health, significant progress has been achieved in Viet Nam by providing weekly supplements of iron and folic acid, and in the Philippines by encouraging breastfeeding. In the process, both countries have taken a step closer to achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, which calls for a two thirds reduction in under-5 mortality between 1990 and 2015, and MDG 5, which calls for a three quarters reduction in the maternal mortality ratio.

Viet Nam: preventing anaemia in women of reproductive age

In a developing country such as Viet Nam, children and young women often suffer from iron and folate deficiency, resulting in anaemia and increased risk of death. In addition, the negative consequences of iron deficiency anaemia on the cognitive and physical development of children and on the work productivity of adults are of major concern for the Government.
A simple solution is to provide a regular supplement of iron and folic acid for women during child-bearing years. Evidence suggests that this is a desirable intervention in those parts of the world where women do not yet have access to fortified foods or to diets that are high in bioavailable iron.
In 1998, the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Regional Office initiated a weekly iron and folic acid supplementation (WIFS) project. The project was piloted in four Member States: Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Philippines and Viet Nam.
Viet Nam became the first country in the Region to implement this anaemia prevention programme in women of reproductive age, using WIFS, combined with twice-yearly deworming. This was piloted in Than Mienh province in the late 1990s. The same initiative was introduced in 2006 in the Yen Binh and Tran Yen districts of Yen Bai province, covering 50 000 women ranging from 15 to 45 years of age. In 2008, the project was expanded to cover the whole province for a total of 250 000 women. Options to further scale up the programme from the provincial to national level are under discussion.
Thanks to the programme, anaemia prevalence in Yen Bai was reduced from 37.5% to 18%, and hookworm infestation decreased from 78.2% to 12%, according to a November 2010 evaluation of the nearly 5-year-old project. The birth weight of infants increased by about 130 grams. WHO is now working to support Yen Bai to secure a sustainable supply of iron and folic acid and to find viable ways to expand the programme.

The Philippines: a push for breastfeeding

A National Demographic Health Survey conducted in 2003 highlighted the dangerously low breastfeeding rates in the Philippines. The results came just after UNICEF and WHO launched the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF). In response to the survey and the strategy, the Philippines launched a national policy on IYCF and a five-year national action plan to provide strategic direction for improving breastfeeding practices in the country.
Among the follow-up initiatives is the Essential Newborn Care (ENC) protocol under the slogan "The First Embrace", which encourages early skin-to-skin contact and non-separation of the newborn child from the mother in order to promote breastfeeding. The exclusive breastfeeding rate at 28 days of life in the pilot hospital was double the national average for all hospitals.
Supportive supervision for IYCF was stepped up in health centres, with regular visits by national and regional coordinators. Key IYCF indicators were included in the Integrated Child Survival Monitoring Tool.
Progress has been encouraging, but much work remains to be done. Other areas that need attention include:

• the implementation of the Essential Newborn Care protocol in hospitals to increase breastfeeding initiation rates within the first hour of life;
• reaching 1 million pregnant women through an integrated marketing communication effort;
• full implementation of the Expanded Rooming-In Act, which includes provisions for breastfeeding breaks and support for working women;
• the integration of IYCF in the curricula of all health workers; and
• the strengthening of implementation, monitoring and reporting of violations of the Milk Code, which regulates the marketing of breastmilk substitutes.

The latest national data (2008) show that the exclusive breastfeeding rate for the first six months remains unchanged at 34% and the rate of initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour remains at 54%. The figures may not be very dramatic, but they suggest the decline in breastfeeding in the Philippines is reversible.

Cambodia:Fortune-telling the Kingdom's future (2011)

The Phnom Penh Post 

Wednesday, 22 December 2010 18:59 Vong Sokheng and Adam Miller

 

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Veteran soothsayer San Vannak, 53, plies his trade outside the Royal Palace. According to the city’s “spirit guardians”, he says increased political stability is likely to be on the cards for 2011.

When a new calendar year approaches, many Cambodians look to fortune-tellers for a glimpse of what lies in wait for the year ahead. While not all cosmic news is good news, Phnom Penh’s leading soothsayers say that after a grim 2010, more prosperity is in the stars for next year. 

After a year of predicted pestilence, famines and other misfortunes, 2011 – a traditional year of tevada (angels) – will apparently herald a growth spurt for the national economy, an increase in effective law enforcement and a decrease in violent conflicts.

Im Borin, director of the National Committee of Khmer Customs and Horoscopes at the Ministry of Cults and Religion, has published about 5,000 copies of a horoscope handbook in the run-up to the New Year. Im Borin, a long-time mystic, said his predictions are based on “geocentric planetary phenomena”, which he claims are reliable, a decent proportion of the time.

“I have read and analysed the characters of tevada as a traditional fortune-teller for about 10 years and about 80 percent of my predictions have been accurate,” he said.

While his most recent prophecies for 2011 augur an increase in this year’s spate of natural disasters – including flash floods and serious fires – he says that people across the country should generally remain in greater spiritual harmony than they did in 2010.

Im Borin’s cosmic predictions for 2010 were ominous at best, claiming that many people would be tragically killed in a year filled with famine, conflict and pestilence. He even goes as far as to say that his predictions foreshadowed last month’s tragic stampede at the Diamond Island bridge, which killed 353 people.

“The prediction became accurate if you compare it with the Koh Pich bridge stampede, which caused the deaths of hundreds of poor people, many of whom were working in factories,” he said.

Luckily, however, Im Borin’s darker premonitions for the past year – including a prediction of falling crop yields and a rash of human casualties as a result of declining “social morality” – have failed to come to fruition in 2010.

“The farmers must take care of the crops they have already harvested because crops this year will not be good,” he said in January, adding that “about half of the vegetable and fruit crops will be destroyed” by insects.

Window into the future

San Vannak, a 53-year-old “spirit guardian” fortune-teller who also plies his trade in front of the Royal Palace, said soothsayers are usually asked to divine the future on matters such as romance, finances, job opportunities, marriage plans, divorce and the outcome of illnesses.

He said that for generations, Cambodians have consulted fortune tellers to gain self-understanding and knowledge which could lead to personal power or success in some aspect of life.

“Individual people need to learn about their life when there are problems and they come and consult with a fortune-teller to help them make decisions,” he said.

San Vannak said his clients include government officials and business people who look to the stars to tell them “whether their rank or business will increase or decline”.
     

LESOTHO: Better Work programme launches in Africa

Source:

By: just-style.com | 21 December 201

Buyers from Gap Inc, Levi Strauss and Wal-Mart attended the launch earlier this month of the Better Work programme in Lesotho – the first time the scheme, which aims to improve working conditions in the garment sector, has been rolled out in Africa.

The initiative, which was first developed in Cambodia ten years ago, will help Lesotho’s garment factories improve compliance with national labour law and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) core international labour standards.

It will also promote the industry – where garment factories employ around 40,000 workers, mainly women, and account for about 80% of Lesotho’s manufacturing jobs – to international buyers and investors.
“Gap Inc has collaborated with Better Works since its inception in Cambodia, and has supported its expansion into Jordan, Haiti, Vietnam, and now Lesotho,” said Cathy Dix, manager, global responsibility for Gap Inc.

“We believe partnerships are key to improving global working conditions, and look forward to working with Better Work and other brands in Lesotho.”

The Better Work programme is a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Cambodia on track for two MDGs

The Phnom Penh Post Tuesday, 

14 December 2010 15:01 Mom Kunthear

 

CAMBODIA is on track to meet two of its nine nationally set Millennium Development Goals by 2015, according to a presentation made by the Ministry of Planning during a regional conference in Phnom Penh yesterday.

Officials speaking at the opening of the three-day conference – held to discuss the implementation of MDG strategies in Asia-Pacific countries – the Kingdom is on track to meet targets to reduce child mortality rates and to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

However, the country is unlikely to meet targets to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, improve maternal health and ensure environmental sustainability. It is also making slow progress toward targets to achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and de-mining goals.

During his opening remarks, Minister of Planning Chhay Than said Cambodia had made some “substantial” achievements, but faced some particular challenges.

“The challenges in our case are much more severe compared to other countries at our level of socio-economic development because of events in our recent history,” he said, adding that the country’s civil war only ended in 1999.

“Our main development challenge is the availability of development resources to carry out the massive task of rebuilding our physical infrastructure and institutions,” he said.

According to a presentation from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, countries across the region are struggling to meet targets related to hunger, health, primary education, child mortality, maternal health and sanitation.

Representatives from 12 Asia-Pacific countries are attending the meeting.

US Department of Labor announces a grant of more than $5 million for Better Work program in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam

Source: Trading Markets.Com

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:33:22 EST

Symbols: IFK

Dec 16, 2010 (Labor Department Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) --
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a grant award of more than $5.3 million to the International Labor Organization to support the global Better Work program by implementing projects in Bangladesh and continuing projects in Cambodia and Vietnam. The grant was awarded by the department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs.

Better Work is a unique partnership program of the International Labor Organization and the International Finance Corp. that seeks to improve labor conditions in global supply chains. The Better Work program monitors conditions in export factories, publishes the results in a transparent manner and assists suppliers to comply with labor standards that many buyers and customers demand.

"The goal is to replicate this highly successful strategy, first developed in Cambodia 10 years ago, in countries that protect their workers' rights while promoting development," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.
Under the grant, the Better Work program will focus on compliance with labor standards in the garment and other industries in these three countries. The project will engage the ministries of labor, factory managers, multinational buyers, employer organizations and trade unions, and provide guidance and solutions to improve compliance with labor laws in ways that increase the viability of companies, as well as the livelihoods and working conditions of workers.

ILAB News Release: [12/15/2010]
Contact Name: Gloria Della or Clarisse Young
Phone Number: (202) 693-8666 or x5051
Release Number: 10-1718-NAT
For full details on (IFK) IFK. (IFK) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (IFK) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

Midwives get mobile

  The Phnom Penh Post

Thursday, 16 December 2010 21:45 Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear

Kampong Thom province

Sem Phai, a 35-year-old rice farmer in Kampong Thom province’s Prasat Sambor district, has three children and says she cannot afford any more.
But living in Tang Krasao village, which lies a bumpy hour-long drive from Kampong Thom town, means that Sem Phai’s options for preventing unwanted pregnancies are limited.
She tried using a contraceptive pill but soon stopped after noticing that it was causing her to become “thinner and thinner”.
“I don’t want more children because I’m poor and I’m afraid I can’t earn enough to support them when they grow up,” she said. “I want to spend time working to support my family.”
Local healthcare workers say some women in Sem Phai’s position prefer to abort unwanted pregnancies than to seek family planning services, citing accessibility, affordability and expediency as major considerations.
Authorities have long cited a lack of healthcare services in rural and remote areas as one of the major obstacles to reducing the Kingdom’s maternal mortality rate which, based on 2008 census data, is pegged at 461 deaths per 100,000 live births and is widely cited as among the highest in the region.
Up to a quarter of these deaths are related to unwanted pregnancies, meaning that “roughly one woman dies every 10.5 hours from unsafe abortion”, according to the NGO Marie Stopes International, which has recently introduced Midwives on Motos, a new programme designed to improve access to safe family planning services in remote areas.
Along with 14 other women, Sem Phai visited her local health centre last month to receive a hormonal implant. The implant, which is inserted just beneath the skin on the woman’s upper arm, protects against pregnancy for three to five years and is not usually accessible for women in remote villages like Tang Krasao.
Sitting on a wooden bench outside the open door of the healthcare centre while waiting her turn to receive the implant, Sem Phai said her initial fears about side effects had been quashed after a consultation with Khy Sophorn, an MSI midwife visiting from Kampong Thom town.
“At first, I felt scared about this because I heard the rumour that it hurts women,” she said.
In a group discussion before beginning individual consultations, Khy Sophorn explained to the women assembled that the implant would not “walk around their bodies” or make them too weak to do physical work.
Sosy Vorn, a midwife based in Tang Krasao village who has been practicing in Kampong Thom province for more than 20 years, said such rumours were common and that there was often an initial distrust of modern contraceptives like the implant.
“Family planning methods are new to Cambodia and lots of women have heard stories of bad side effects. It will take some time to build trust in family planning methods,” she said. “Some women just want to see what happens with their neighbour’s implant; if it goes well then maybe they will do that too.”
She said that some women in remote areas still use abortion as a form of family planning and see it as preferable to medium-term contraception methods.
“Some of the women like to use abortion rather than family planning,” she said. “A surgical abortion takes only five minutes and doesn’t hurt after, but for family planning, they have to take some time to do that.”
The need for accessible family planning services was made evident in the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey, which found that 59 percent of married women in Kampong Thom province did not want any more children, yet only 30 percent of them reported using modern contraceptive methods.
An estimated 1,700 women die during childbirth or as a result of becoming pregnant in Cambodia every year, according to a May report from the Ministry of Health, which cites transportation problems as one of the top three “critical delays [to accessing services] that can make the difference between life and death”.
The report also highlights the importance of access to family planning, noting that, “Globally, there is strong association between low MMR and high rates of family planning”.
Nationwide, the number of married women using family planning methods rose from 18.5 percent in the year 2000, to 28 percent in 2009, according to the report. The Kingdom has set a target to more than double this number to 60 percent by 2015, as part of a wider goal to reduce maternal mortality rates to less than 250 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015.
Che Katz, MSI’s country director, said taking services to people in remote areas was one of the most immediate ways to work toward such goals.
“Midwives on Motos is about how to access women and men who are really underserved with family planning services and sexual reproductive health services,” she said.
“People in urban centres have more access to health services, or [semi-urban] centres, but when you move further out to into the rural or remote areas, it’s quite hard for them to get access to services. The cost of travel can be just prohibitive for poor women.”
Midwives on Motos began in Kampong Thom province in March following the introduction of similar programmes in Battambang, Siem Reap and Koh Kong provinces in January. MSI claims to have provided more than 660 women with family planning services through the programme.
Katz said, along with other MSI programmes, Midwives on Motos had a notable impact on reducing the number of maternal deaths.
“This year we will have averted 315 maternal deaths directly from our work.... and more than 4,000 infant deaths, and we’ll have saved the government of Cambodia and the people of Cambodia US$21 million in health services costs,” she said. “So that’s a very measurable impact that we’re having.”

MDG scorecards to chart areas of concern

The Phnom Penh Post

Tuesday, 07 December 2010 15:02 Tep Nimol

The Cambodian government and United Nations Development Program unveiled a new measurement tool yesterday aimed at helping the Kingdom achieve its Millennium Development Goals and track development disparities across the country.

The Ministry of Planning and the UNDP have developed and tested a scorecard designed to help policy makers in all provinces identify and address short-falls in nine target areas “The Commune Database shows regional disparities ... at all levels – province, district, commune,” said Elena Tischenko, country director of UNDP Cambodia, at a press conference yesterday.

As an example, she said that commune data from 2010 showed poverty levels in northeastern Cambodia (Preah Vihear, Ratanakkiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng) at 37 percent, while in the coastal areas (Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep, Koh Kong) the rate was 25 percent or lower.

“I believe [the scorecards] will prove crucial to ensuring we meet the goals Cambodia has set for itself in the five years we have left until the MDG target date of 2015,” said Elena Tischenko.

Sherif Rushdy, a CMDG advisor, said via email that the lowest average scores for millennium goals came in ensuring environmental sustainability, eradicating poverty and hunger, and achieving universal nine-year primary education, adding that the highest average score came in the reduction of child mortality.

Poorer nations marks global gains in development: UN

By WBRi IBNS Newswire on 05 November 2010

New York, Nov  5 (IBNS): The majority of developing countries have made dramatic but underestimated gains in health and education in recent decades, although severe inequalities within and between countries remain, according to the United Nations flagship report on comprehensive human development, which was released on Thursday.

The Human Development Report, issued annually by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), assesses the state of human development on the basis of health, education and income indicators, as an alternative to purely macroeconomic assessments of national progress.

In this 20th edition, the report reviews trends over the past four decades and concludes that people on Thursday are generally healthier, wealthier and better educated than they were in 1970.

These advances are not directly linked with national economic growth, showing that impressive long-term gains can and have been made even without consistent economic performance, according to the report.

“Our results confirm… two central contentions of the Human Development Report from the outset,” said the report’s lead author, Jeni Klugman. “Human development is different from economic growth, and substantial achievements are possible even without fast growth.”

Globally, life expectancy has risen from 59 years in 1970 to 70 in 2010, the report states.

Primary and secondary school enrollment has risen from 55 per cent to 70 per cent in the same period. While all regions shared in this progress, there were wide variations in scope; for example, life expectancy rose by 18 years in the Arab world but 8 years in sub-Saharan Africa.

Among the top ten countries showing marked improvement are Oman, Nepal and Laos, while Ethiopia, Cambodia and Benin are in the top 20 – countries which the report notes are “not typically described as success stories.”

However, the report also highlights serious inequalities, both within and between countries. Over the past 40 years, countries at the lower end of the Human Development Index experienced an improvement of less than 20 per cent, compared to the top-performing group, which averaged gains of 54 per cent.

“We see great advances, but changes over the past few decades have by no means been wholly positive,” the authors stressed. “Some countries have suffered serious setbacks, particularly in health, sometimes erasing in a few years the gains accumulated over several decades.”

“The gaps in human development across the world, while narrowing, remain huge.”

Launching the report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the HDR had radically changed conventional thinking on development. “We have learned that while economic growth is very important, what ultimately matters is using national income to give all people a chance at a longer, healthier and more productive life,” he said.

Ban added that there was a “straight line from the Human Development Report to the Millennium Development Goals.”

“The HDR was designed to measure results. The MDGs set specific targets for a better world,” he said. “Putting people first means tackling poverty, hunger and disease. That approach is embodied in the MDGs.”

China gives hope for MDGs -- WFP official

Source: Xinhua, 28 October 2010
by Eric J. Lyman and Wang Xingqiao

ROME, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Josette Sheeran, executive director of the Rome-based World Food Program (WFP), said on the eve of her visit to China that China's success in beating hunger gives hope for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Sheeran will leave for China on Thursday as part of an Asian trip scheduled to include stops in Japan, South Korea, and the DPRK.
She said she is eager to witness the dramatic growth in China that helped transform the world's most populous country from a recipient of food aid to a key ally in the worldwide battle against hunger.
To achieve the MDGs, which include halving the number of hungry people worldwide by 2015, the world's remaining poor countries could learn from success stories like China's, Sheeran believed.
The MDGs, set in 2000, have been agreed upon by all 192 United Nations member states and some 23 international organizations, including the WFP.
"We know that China, for example, used to be one of the WFP's biggest programs, and today it actually helps support us to fight against hunger in other countries," Sheeran said in a joint interview with Chinese media.
"We think this kind of transformation shows essential progress, even though the number of hungry in the world is very dramatic and needs urgent attention," said Sheeran, a former U.S. under-secretary of state for economic, business, and agricultural affairs.
Sheeran and the WFP have increased their profile in recent weeks, as the organization seeks to call attention to the plight of the world's estimated 925 million hungry people.
In a statement from earlier in October, Sheeran outlined 10 key ingredients needed to combat world hunger, namely the use of humanitarian aid, providing food through schools, focusing on nutrition for the youngest children, developing food safety nets in poor countries, helping poor farmers get their products to markets, empowering women on a local level, relying more on technology, making communities more resilient, building partnerships, and increasing political will.

"It's all part of a multi-faceted approach that is essential to confronting the problem," she said. "The WFP can play a central role, but without help from other parts the battle will clearly be lost."
Sheeran said she believes China's current role as a key partner in the fight -- which is already large -- will grow greater with time.
"China contributed to disaster relief in Haiti, and China has made a huge contribution in Pakistan, to the people who are the victims of the floods there," Sheeran said. "This kind of solidarity is important, and I am sure it will grow over time."
Sheeran, 56, said she is eager to compare this visit with her previous visits to China, as a way to better understand firsthand the kind of inspiring transformation the country has undergone.
"During my first visit in the early 1980s, I saw maybe five cars in Beijing -- almost everyone moved around the city on bicycles," she said.
"But since then, China has made the most progress in the battle against hunger of any nation. China can now enter emergency actions, it has new capabilities, and its understanding of importance of battling hunger make the country a powerful ally."

After 2015, we need a new set of millennium development goals that apply to all countries

 

 

This new set of universal goals should address the issues of inequality and the world's present rate of consumption of limited commodities

 

Jonathan Glennie Wednesday 3 November 2010 09.31 GMT guardian.co.uk

 

 

Villagers in Matongo, Zambia look at new insecticide-treated nets given to them by members of the Roll Back Malaria Expedition. Photograph: Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Six weeks after the UN summit on the millennium development goals (MDGs) in New York, the discussion has turned to what happens after the deadline on 31 December 2015. Everyone has an opinion, but I haven't yet seen someone suggest the most fundamental and important step forward of all: a renewed set of MDGs should apply to all countries, not just so-called "developing countries" (an unhelpful and patronising term that we should anyway have stopped using by now).
One problem with the present set of MDGs is the impression given that it is only the developed countries that are helping poor countries. Read MDG8, which calls for a "global partnership for development", and you would be forgiven for believing that only the world's richest countries act in solidarity with the poorest.
In reality, even before the financial crisis hit, and more so in its aftermath, middle-income countries have been vital co-operators in trade and aid to the world's poorest countries. This is not only true of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, whose contribution is well-known, but smaller countries also play a part; such as Cuba, which has been exporting highly qualified doctors to help in poor communities abroad for many years. It is not a question of the rich helping the poor, but everyone helping each other.
The greater problem, however, is that the MDGs development targets (MDGs 1-7) apply only to "developing countries", leaving the entirely false implication that "developed countries" no longer have anything to improve on. Next time we draw up some global targets, all countries should be treated the same, all with targets to meet at home, and all with a responsibility to offer help and solidarity abroad.
What should the world's post-2015 goals relate to? First, inequality. Most of the feedback so far on the MDGs has expressed concern that while progress is being made to meet poverty targets, this is often coming at the expense of rising inequality – it is easier to bring the not-so-poor just above the poverty line, than to reach the very poorest. There are no incentives to reduce inequality, although almost everyone recognises it as a fundamental factor behind poverty and conflict in and across societies.
Second, sustainability. Besides focusing on climate change, because the level of carbon emissions in the world is unsustainable and threatens stability and poverty reduction, we should also focus on the world's present rate of consumption of minerals, fish, water and many other limited commodities. Our consumption is unsustainable and will increasingly contribute to tension, conflict and injustice.
Lord Malloch-Brown, head of the UN development programme in 2000 and joint-author of the MDGs, tells a story of how he was going to print the final MDG draft when he met the then head of the UN environment programme on the way to the printer and said something like, "Blast, I've forgotten the environment," and went back and added MDG7. Things have moved on since then, and it is no longer possible to talk about development without integrating environmental sustainability and resource constraints. And yet the countries being held to account for MDG7 are the countries causing the least harm, while the richest countries, which are consuming far more per person have escaped targets. All countries, rich and poor, need to consider sustainability of the world's resources in their growth and development plans. Global targets would help.
There are very great political barriers to agreeing world targets on these issues, not least because there is not yet political consensus on either. Some argue that rising inequality is not a problem, others that man-made climate change is a plot. But the moral and scientific cases are made more clearly each year. We have five years to convince the remaining sceptics. Alongside targets on inequality and sustainability, there should still be targets on absolute poverty, as the job of the first set of MDGs will not yet have been completed.
While goals such as these would signify a global effort to tackle the biggest challenges of our time, they would also signal an important cultural shift. Rather than presenting the world as divided between developed countries and the rest, which are seeking to reach developed status, it presents a world where leadership is not so clear cut. While the rich world will score very well on poverty indicators, and will rightly offer to help other countries to improve, it will score poorly on sustainability, and only averagely on equality. On both, it would be wise to seek advice from other countries that have set out fairer and more environmentally sustainable development plans.
Agreeing the MDGs in 2000 was an historic step forward which we sometimes take for granted. All the countries of the world stated common development aims, as they did for human rights about 50 years beforehand. But a new set of MDGs applying to all countries would signify an even more historic shift and would demonstrate that western countries, dominant for so long, were embracing a more balanced and equal world, where we all have things to learn and in which all countries, crucially, are still developing.

CAMBODIA: Union threatens new mass strike

By: Ngo Tuan | 1 November 201

A prominant workers' union in Cambodia has threatened further strikes unless their suspended unionists are reinstated and a current minimum wage dispute is resolved.

The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), who led mass garment strikes last month, is ready for another nationwide stoppage.

The Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs has asked the union not to start new strikes and give them more time to resolve the dispute.

Ek Sopheakdey, secretary general of CCAWDU, said further strikes could start by the end of this month though.

“We will do the strikes in front of stores and clothing shops, and we will announce to the world that garment factories in Cambodia abuse workers’ rights,” he said.

Up to now, 94 unionists and 683 workers remain suspended and dismissed because of their participation in last month's strikes. The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) says the numbers are smaller though - at 67 unionist and 358 workers.

The GMAC has warned that the new stoppages will threaten the future of the garment industry and that foreign buyers and investors could leave the country.
In the first nine months of 2010, Cambodia's textile and garment exports reached US$2.27bn, representing a year-on year increase of 17%.

“The impacts of the strike will only be seen in the October data or later," Ken Loo, secretary general of the GMAC added.

Clinton urges rights progress in Cambodia

By MATTHEW LEE

The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged Cambodia to improve its human rights record and ensure the Khmer Rouge are brought to justice for crimes against humanity in the 1970s.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gestures during a news conference with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem at the ASEAN summit on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, China, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton takes a tour of Angkor Wat temple complex on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010 in Angkor, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shares a laugh with a group of girls from the Siem Reap Center, a shelter run by AFSEIP that provides rehabilitation, vocational training, and social reintegration for sex trafficking victims, on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

Clinton was in the capital, Phnom Penh, where she visited the main Khmer Rouge prison and torture center before appealing to Cambodian officials to overcome a legacy of impunity for abuses. The government has refused to allow a U.N.-backed court trying top Khmer Rouge leaders to prosecute lower-ranking members.
Clinton toured the infamous S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people were tortured before being executed. The Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution during its 1975-79 reign.
She did not speak after the tour but left a message in a guest book calling for those responsible for the deaths to be prosecuted.
"In memory of the tragic suffering of the people of Cambodia and in hope that there will be a future of peace, prosperity and greater awareness of all that needs to be done to move the country forward, including trials, accountability and reconciliation," Clinton wrote.
"May God bless all of who lost their lives and their families and all Cambodians who want to make a difference for the next generation."
The Khmer Rouge tribunal closed its first case in July when it convicted the regime's chief jailer and head of S-21, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. A second trial is expected to start next year for the four top surviving Khmer Rouge leaders.
But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the trials will stop there, despite U.N. wishes to bring lower-ranking officers to justice for murder, torture and other crimes. The U.N. says progress has been blocked by political interference from Cambodian officials who oppose more prosecutions.
Critics accuse the Cambodian leader of trying to limit the tribunal's scope to prevent his political allies from being indicted. Hun Sen once served as a Khmer Rouge officer and many of his main allies are also former members of the group.
In talks with Hun Sen later Monday after a town hall meeting with Cambodian youth, Clinton is expected to say that the U.S. wants to see the next trial proceed quickly and judiciously, according to U.S. officials.
Clinton also plans to tell Hun Sen that his government, which has been harshly criticized for cracking down on opposition groups, must do more to protect human rights. She will meet with opposition leaders before departing for Malaysia on the next leg of a two-week, seven-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific.
Last week, Hun Sen told visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon that he must close down the U.N. human rights office in Cambodia, which he accuses of interfering in the country's internal affairs.
Cambodian officials are expected to keep up their push for forgiveness from the U.S. of about $445 million in Vietnam War-era debt. Washington has balked, arguing the country has the means to repay the low-interest loans.

Hillary Clinton pledges to deepen partnership with Cambodia

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (front R) waves when she arrived at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 1, 2010. Hillary Clinton on Monday morning arrived in Phnom Penh from Cambodia's northen city Siem Reap for her last day visit to Cambodia. (Xinhua/Phearum)

By Meng Bill
PHNOM PENH, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Monday that her country will broaden and deepen partnership with Cambodia with an aim to help its development.
Speaking to reporters at a joint press conference with Hor Namhong, Cambodia's deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton said the United States and Cambodia will "broaden and deepen our partnership".
"This is my sixth trip to Asia as secretary of state, but my first trip to Cambodia. It represents the commitment that President Obama and I have made to restoring America to high level of engagement to Asia-Pacific region, and in particular, to work with the government and the people of the country such as Cambodia, " she said.
"We can work even more closely together to help meet the challenges facing Cambodia and all Southeast Asia. Cambodia is doing more than ever before to improving health system, in particular, on HIV/AIDS. We will be helping the people of Cambodia mounts a comprehensive fight against the hunger by raising agricultural productivity and making nutrition foods more widely available," she added.
Speaking at the same press conference, Hor Namhong said the United States has helped Cambodia in many sectors including health, education and demining.
And now, he said, Cambodia is requesting the United States to provide more tax exemptions for Cambodian goods exporting to U.S. market, saying the United States is a huge market for Cambodia with the total trades of nearly 3 billion U.S. dollars.
He said such volumes are helping Cambodia in social and economic development.
Both Hillary Clinton and Hor Namhong have shared some other points during the discussions including the Cambodia's debt to the United States, the Office of the UN Human Rights in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge trial.
Clinton said a team of experts will come and resume talks with Cambodia on the debt issue.
Cambodia has asked the United States to cancel the debt that it has owed since 1970s which is now amounting to around 445 million U.S. dollars.
Cambodia has blamed the present country's representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia as a spokesman of the country's opposition party and wants him to be removed or the office closed, but Clinton is suggesting the office to continue and work with Cambodian government.
Hor Namhong said there are more than 1,000 non-governmental organizations, and more than 100 of which are working on human rights issues in Cambodia.
For Khmer Rouge trial, Clinton said the United States will continue to help it, especially on the shortage of fund to proceed with the case for the trial of four aging leaders.
Clinton is making a two-day visit, the first visit to the country by a U.S. Secretary of State since Colin Powell visited Cambodia to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2003.
Clinton spent the whole day on Sunday in Siem Reap and toured Angkor temples.
During her stay in Phnom Penh, Clinton met with several government leaders including Prime Minister Hun Sen and Hor Namhong as well as having an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni.
Clinton leaves Cambodia late Monday for Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Australia.

Editor: Wang Guanqun

Secretary Clinton's October 30-November 1 Visit to Cambodia

U.S Department of State

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

October 30, 2010

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Secretary Clinton’s two-day trip to Cambodia October 30-November 1 highlights the United States commitment to enhanced, sustained, and comprehensive engagement in Southeast Asia, as well as our desire to assist the Cambodian people in their efforts to recover fully from decades of conflict, to achieve political and legal reforms, and to strengthen economic development. This trip is the first Secretary of State visit to Cambodia since then-Secretary Powell visited in 2003.
The United States has a strong interest in a Cambodia that contributes to regional stability, upholds democratic values, and integrates fully into the international economy. Our wide-ranging assistance programs touch on all aspects of Cambodian life and affirm these strategic interests. Secretary Clinton will encourage Cambodia to continue its recovery from conflict and its progress on democratic development. She will stress the importance of a credible opposition and respect for human rights in a stable, well-functioning democracy and highlight our interest in seeing Cambodia continue to play a constructive role in regional stability. She will also express appreciation for the country’s rich cultural heritage and underscore the critical role Cambodia’s young citizens play in the country’s future prosperity and development.
Sustained and Deep Engagement with Cambodia: Our engagement with Cambodia achieves a variety of political, security and humanitarian objectives. The United States provided Cambodia more than U.S. $70 million in foreign assistance this year, which goes to addressing issues such as human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, corruption, maternal and child health, and humanitarian mine action. Our maturing security cooperation with Cambodia represents a joint commitment to ensuring international peace and security, and continuing the transformation of the Cambodian Armed Forces into a transparent, accountable, and professional military. The U.S. partnership with the Lower Mekong Initiative is another example of how we are engaging with Cambodia to promote a multilateral response to the transnational challenges we all share, such as climate change and infectious disease.

A Democratic, Secure, and Prosperous Future for Cambodia: Our commitment to a democratic, secure, and prosperous Cambodia is reflected in the nearly $7 million we have contributed to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge Tribunal), which seeks to bring to justice the Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible for the atrocities of the late 1970s, while also serving as a model for Cambodian rule of law, judicial independence, and national reconciliation. While in Cambodia, Secretary Clinton will visit Tuol Sleng, the former Khmer Rouge torture and interrogation center, will emphasize the need to fight corruption and improve transparency in all parts of the government, and will meet with opposition leaders to highlight the importance of a vibrant political arena where all voices are heard.

The Role of Cambodia’s Youth: The Secretary’s participation in a town hall event will provide an important opportunity to have a free-flowing discussion with Cambodia youth about challenges and opportunities facing the country, and how the United States can help. In turn, her outreach to Cambodia’s youth will promote an even better understanding of the United States and our shared values.

Corruption hampers MDGs: TI

Written by IRIN

Saturday, 30 October 2010 13:22

LONDON - Corruption siphons off 20-30 percent of funding for basic services, estimates non-profit Transparency International (TI), and tackling it should be higher on the international development agenda. "Corruption is a tax, and adds to the overall bill of development efforts - the percentage of resources could be as high as 20 or 30 percent," TI's programmes' director, Christiaan Poortman, told IRIN, following the launch of the 2010 Perceptions of Corruption Index. "It will hamper the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals," he added. Research by TI into corruption in the water sector estimates in some countries that 30 percent of funds are siphoned off. Similar figures are emerging for construction. "Corruption also means quality in these sectors goes down - so in construction, the quality of the buildings will be poorer... They would collapse in the next earthquake. It really can be a matter of life and death," Poortman added. TI advocates stricter implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption, the only global initiative that provides a framework for putting an end to corruption. Under the convention, all signatories are being reviewed for their anti-corruption efforts over the next three years. Leaders must display a commitment to getting rid of corruption, said Poortman, who cited Zambia, Botswana and the USA as setting a good example. "With global financial reform, stamping out corruption is now on the agenda of the G20 (November meeting in Seoul), so it does get more traction than it used to, but whether or not major changes are being made at a governance level, is unclear," said Poortman. Other target areas to diminish corruption include strengthening institutions; strengthening the rule of law; making decision-making transparent; educating youths and setting up better whistle-blower protection schemes.

U.N. MDGs won't work for Africa

Millenium Development Goals fail to address structural economic challenges.

By Lolla Mohammed Nur 

The Minnesota Daily, 1 November 2010

It’s been 50 years since most African nations gained or began to move toward political independence in the hopes of also attaining economic freedom from their colonial masters.

Despite the continent’s political successes, sub-Saharan Africa still faces severe challenges to development. Only 31 percent of the sub-Saharan African population has access to adequate sanitation, 190,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth annually and 388 million people live in extreme poverty.

Ten years ago, national leaders convened to combat disease, poverty and hunger in poor countries through the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. 

However, it is becoming more obvious that the eight MDGs will not be achieved by 2015 as planned. And unfortunately for Africa, the continent’s underdevelopment has much to do with economic dependence.

Slogans like "End Poverty Now" have been the mantra of the initiative and this year’s U.N. summit on the goals’ progress. No doubt some progress has been made.

However, the MDGs are a quick fix to a myriad of complex problems. Underdevelopment is not going away in five years unless there is the political will to address structural economic obstacles to development.

Where the MDGs first fail is their lack of acknowledgement of the inequitable economic system.

Developed countries can afford to sell their goods on the international market cheaply because of government subsidies. But developing countries can’t afford subsidies for their farmers.

This results in distorted African markets and cheap international prices with which domestic farmers can’t compete.

Related to this is the legacy of colonialism and paternalistic policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Such policies prevent African countries from diversifying their economies under government regulation.

This is because IMF loans impose crippling Structural Adjustment Programs: the forced deregulation of African markets and privatization of public services under the guise of holding governments accountable. SAPs have actually increased corruption and helped cause underdevelopment.

Speaking of corruption, it’s hypocritical for rich countries to deride Africa of its corrupt behavior when they encourage such corrupt activities in the continent.

A case in point is oil giant Shell, one of several multinational oil companies accused of illegally paying Nigerian officials. 

If the United Nations is serious about promoting development, it needs to take into account the institutionalization of global inequality. The goals also need to acknowledge that corruption will exist so long as there are parties on both sides willing to engage in it.

And then there’s the dual problem of foreign aid and debt. Poor countries still face an estimated burden of $500 billion in foreign debt. How are they going to "end poverty now" if they don’t have the financial means to do so?

Even if rich countries cancel debt and increase foreign aid, a growing number of academics argue throwing aid at poverty’s symptoms is not doing the job. Aid has done little or nothing to ease poverty and its symptoms on the aggregate level.

"There is no simple correlation between the volume of aid and its impact," Phil Vernon from International Alert told The Independent, a British paper. "Failing to meet the goals should not be interpreted to mean we should spend more money in the same way. People were told a story in which if they opened their checkbooks they would end poverty. But ending poverty is as much about politics as about getting children into school."

The MDGs are also doomed to fail due to a lack of political will. Even if the effectiveness of aid is an open question, the fact is that rich countries have failed to contribute the amount of aid they promised over the past decade.

In 2000, the G8 pledged to spend 0.7 percent of its GDP on overseas development assistance, but so far, it has spent only 0.34 percent. The latest estimates predict a pledged $21 billion in aid has not been met so far.

The financial crisis is partly to blame, but countries lacked the political will before the recession hit. Particularly because of the crisis, Africa needs development assistance — monetary or not — now more than ever.

So what do we do? Should we throw up our arms in frustration and ignore the fate of the world’s poor in desperation?

Of course not. There is a silver lining. Combating HIV/AIDs in Africa has been increasingly successful, particularly in Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda. As for the MDG to improve education, 42 million additional children went to school from 1999 to 2007. In 2007, 71 percent of girls were enrolled in school, an increase from 53 percent in 1999. Africa’s markets have been growing at a rate of over 5 percent annually, and foreign investors are increasingly looking to Africa for business.

Perhaps most encouraging is President Barack Obama’s recent declaration of the new U.S. Global Development Policy, which will "harness all the tools at our disposal — from our diplomacy to our trade policies to our investment policies" to improve societies "over the long term."

There are positives in the U.N. MDGs. But if we are going to lift the bottom billion out of poverty, we need a holistic approach that empowers poor countries to address complex structural impediments and the lack of political will.

230 companies show products at int’l textile, garments fair

BUSINESS

Thursday ,Oct 28,2010, Posted at: 11:36(GMT+7)

The 10th Vietnam International Textile and Garments Industry Exhibition, the largest annual garment event for exporters, started Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City with about 230 exhibiting companies. International brands from Australia, Belgium, China, France, German, Holland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the US are taking part in the four-day exhibition, staged at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7. The exhibits at the event include machines and technologies for the textile and garments industry. Major exhibitors include Brother, Calmat, HASHIMA, Kornit, Kauo Heng, Luwa, Mitsuyin, Naomoto, Organ, Pegasus, Schenk, Siruba, SwissTex, and Viet Tien Tung Shing. Birla Cellulose, a first-time participant, introduces its new biodegradable and sustainable resources in the textile and garment industry. A fashion show is held during the first three show days for famous brand names such as CK, Diesel and Levi’s. Models perform in a fashion show in the opening day of the 10th Vietnam International Textile and Garments Industry Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 27, 2010 (Photo: Thuy Hoa) The fair is organized by the Vietnam National Trade Fair & Advertising Company (Vinexad), Paper Communication Exhibition Service Co., and Yorkers Trade & Marketing Services Co. According to a report by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam earned US$5.87 billion from textile and garment exports in between January and July, a year-on-year rise of 17.4 percent. The industry’s export revenue is expected to increase by 15 percent this year, and even reach US$20 billion by 2020.

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

30 October 2010

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Asia

Cambodian garment workers remain suspended

More than a month after the betrayal by the unions of a four-day national strike, many Cambodian garment workers remain locked out by their employers for having participated in the strike.
According to the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), which called off the strike on September 16 to enter into negotiations with the employers and Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government, 94 union representatives remain suspended. In addition, at least 10 factories have filed damages law suits against Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) officials, and are seeking the suspension of workers identified as strike leaders.
More than 200,000 garment workers—over half the industry’s workforce—had walked out for four days to demand that the $US61 per month minimum wage, agreed to in July with the government, employers and the Free Trade Union of Workers, be lifted to $93. As soon as the strikers returned to work on September 17, employers began to suspend factory delegates and initiate legal cases against them. At least 300 were singled out immediately.
The Ministry of Social Affairs has now demanded that 34 suspended union representatives at the River Rich garment factory in Kandal province sign a three-point pledge in exchange for their return to work. Workers refused to sign the pledge, which required them to respect company regulations, abide by the government’s Labour Law and stop inciting “illegal” strikes.
The CCAWDU has threatened to renew work stoppages if the cases of suspended union representatives are not resolved by the end of the month. But the unions have already effectively abandoned the wage claim on which last month’s strike was based, saying they will seek other concessions instead, such as daily food allowances and seniority payments. This is despite the fact that giant global clothing firms like Adidas, Levi Strauss, Gap Inc, Hennes and Mauritz, and Walt Disney are continuing to make super profits by exploiting cheap labour in Cambodia.

MDGs: Challenges for Bangladesh

chris-alexander.co.uk.Sayeed Arman
The Daily Star, Thursday, October 28, 2010

 
 
TEN years have passed since the United Nations adopted the Millennium Declaration, which gave rise to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In September 2000, world leaders endorsed the Millennium Declaration, a commitment to work together to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable world. Since then, countries around the world have worked tirelessly to reach these goals.
A few countries in Asia have been very successful in implementing these goals; others have made satisfactory progress and a few are still lagging behind the rest. Bangladesh received the UN award for its remarkable achievements in attaining the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in reducing child mortality.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received the award at a colourful function at New York's Astoria Hotel on September 19. Nepal, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Rwanda also received awards. But that does not mean that we are in a good position. Consulting a few different sources one can begin to understand what's going on in Bangladesh with regard to the MDGs.
Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger: With regards to poverty, Bangladesh is on track. But when it comes to achieving full, productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people, we have made slow progress. That figure has gone up from 48% in the base year to 58.5% (current status).
Here, our target is ensuring employment for all. When it comes to removing hunger our progress has been very satisfactory. But the issue of child malnutrition, which is still around 50%, needs closer scrutiny and is one area where we can still do a lot to improve the situation.
Achieving universal primary education: This is a sector where progress has been commendable. Most regions of Bangladesh have primary enrolment ratios above 85%, and many even above 91%; in comparison to the base year percentage of 60 this is a great leap forward.
However, we must also keep an eye on dropout rates, and even though in 2009 the primary completion rate was close to 80% there is little scope for complacency. Adult literacy is also on the rise and that bodes well for our future, with rates going up from 37% in the base year to 72% now.
Promoting gender equality and empower women: The target is to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015, while also empowering women. The ratio of girls to boys in primary education, secondary education and tertiary education shows that we have mixed success.
Though the proportion of seats held by women in the national Parliament has increased, our target remains for it to eventually be 33%. On the flip side, the share of women in wage employment in the non-agriculture sector is quite low. We should try our best to even the playing field for them.
Reducing child mortality: The picture is mixed here. We have to consider the target from three different positions. They are under five mortality rate, infant mortality rate and proportion of one-year-old children immunised against measles.
There were 146 mortalities per thousand live births in base year, and in 2010 that number was down to 67. But our target of 48 is still to be achieved and we have only five years to do so. The number of one-year-old children immunised against measles went up from 54% in the base year to 88%, the last year for which information was readily available. Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) target is 31. But now it is 45.
Improving maternal health: Here, progress is now satisfactory. The target is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015, but the ratio in Bangladesh has declined from 547 to 348 per lac.
Most of these deaths could have been avoided if care and access to emergency obstetric care was more readily available. Achieving this target (144) will be very challenging, but not out of reach. We have the structural facilities and just need to develop a system to use them properly.
Combatting HIV/AIDS and other diseases: This is an area of great concern. Only 15.8% Bangladeshis aged 15 to 24 have some knowledge of HIV/Aids. Malaria is also a worry. It has been said that the death rate associated with malaria per lac population was 0.37 in 2000 and now it is 0.11. If that is to be believed then we seem to be on track there.
Ensuring environmental sustainability: We have not really taken this issue fully. There is much that we can do differently. The first being putting it on our list of national priorities along with education and health, because it is just as important. Consumption of ozone depleting CFCs in metric tons was 195 is base year. The target is 0 but now it is 155. It's a great challenge.
Developing a global partnership: It seems like Bangladesh is not sufficiently active in developing global partnerships. At present, Bangladesh is trying to build regional partnerships, and while that may be a good sign there is still much left to be done on the international scale. We need to be more active here.
The Millennium Development Goals that have to be achieved by 2015 correspond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
Reaching the targets will be a great challenge for Bangladesh. But it is not impossible. We have to give emphasis on employment, women empowerment, and education. These are the focal points. If we can develop in these areas then it will be easier to reach the MDGs targets.
Sayeed Arman is a Journalist and Human Rights Activist. Email: sayeed.arman@gmail.com

Development, regional cooperation top Ban?s talks with leader of Viet Nam

Source: UN News, Thursday, October 28, 2010

The global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were among the issues discussed today by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Nguyen Minh Triet of Viet Nam in Hanoi.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attends a Gala dinner in Hanoi, Viet Nam

The global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were among the issues discussed today by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Nguyen Minh Triet of Viet Nam in Hanoi.

Mr. Ban thanked the Vietnamese leader for his country"s support for United Nations reform and commended the South-East Asian nation for its remarkable progress towards achieving the MDGs, the targets to slash hunger, poverty, disease and a host of other social and economic ills, all by 2015.

For his part, Viet Nam"s President expressed his deep gratitude for the longstanding support for the country"s development.

During their meeting, the two leaders also stressed their interest in making tomorrow"s UN-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Hanoi a success.

The Secretary-General arrived in Viet Nam from Cambodia, where earlier today he visited the Genocide Museum at Tuol Sleng, also known as the S-21 prison camp, where numerous Cambodians were unlawfully detained, subjected to inhumane conditions and forced labour, tortured and executed in the late 1970s.

In July, the UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia dealing with mass killings and other serious crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge three decades ago handed down its first verdict, finding the head of that camp guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Also known as Duch, Kaing Guek Eav was given a 35-year prison term.

"We know it is difficult to relive this terrible chapter in your history," Mr. Ban said at the museum, vowing that he will never forget his visit to the former prison. "But I want you to know: Your courage sends a powerful message to the world " that there can be no impunity, that crimes against humanity shall not go unpunished."

Under an agreement between the UN and the Cambodian Government, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was set up as an independent court using a mixture of Cambodian staff and judges and foreign personnel. It is designated to try those deemed most responsible for crimes and serious violations of Cambodian and international law between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979.

As many as 2.2 million people are believed to have died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, which was then followed by a protracted period of civil war in the impoverished country.

Speaking to reporters after visiting Tuol Seng, the Secretary-General said that any decisions on further trials by the ECCC must be made by the Court itself.

In its second case, the ECCC last month indicted the four most senior members of the Democratic Kampuchea regime who are still alive for crimes against humanity, genocide, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, as well as for violations of the 1956 Cambodian penal code, including murder, torture and religious persecution.

Garment sector may see additional unrest

The Phnom Penh Post

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 15:01 Mom Kunthear and James O’Toole

 

    

A LOCAL union at the centre of strikes last month in the garment industry threatened yesterday to renew work stoppages if the cases of suspended union representatives were not resolved by the end of the month.

Ek Sopheakdey, the secretary general of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said the CCAWDU had informed the government and industry representatives of the plan in a bid to aid union representatives suspended pending court rulings on the legality of last month’s strikes.

“We will do the strikes in front of stores and clothing shops, and we will announce to the world that garment factories in Cambodia abuse workers’ rights,” Ek Sopheakdey said.

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We will announce to the world that garment factories in Cambodia abuse workers’ rights.

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Officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ek Sopheakdey added, had requested that CCAWDU give them more time to resolve the dispute before holding strikes.

Phin Sophea, a union representative at the River Rich garment factory in Kandal province, said 34 representatives at the site had met last week with officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs, who asked them to sign a three-point pledge in exchange for their return to work.

The three points, Phin Sophea said, called for workers to respect company regulations, to respect the Kingdom’s Labour Law and to stop inciting illegal strikes.

“We could not accept this last point in the agreement because if we agree, it seems like we’ve accepted that what we did was illegal,” Phin Sophea said.

Ket Chhoeun, a member of the Committee for the Settlement of Strikes and Demonstrations at the Ministry of Social Affairs who met with the River Rich workers, declined to comment yesterday.

A CCAWDU report released on Friday of last week said there were 94 union representatives who remained suspended in connection with last month’s strikes.

A total of 683 workers were dismissed after they protested the suspensions and then failed to heed a court order asking them to return to work within 48 hours, the CCAWDU said.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said renewed legal action was “definitely on the table” in the event of a new round of strikes. He urged workers not to get involved, citing the negative impact a renewed work stoppage would have on the industry.

“If it comes around the second time, it won’t be simply about reputation – buyers will start to reconsider their operations ... because this would be deemed as a sign of unrest, and more importantly, it would be a sign that even with the government’s attempts at intervention, the unions don’t respect the law,” Loo said.

Tuomo Poutiainen, the chief technical adviser for the International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories Cambodia programme, said new work stoppages “wouldn’t be very helpful” as the parties tried to resolve their disagreements.

“It’s necessary that both sides will take a bit of a step back and try to find those positive steps,” Poutiainen said.

Loo said GMAC figures indicated that just 67 union representatives remained suspended in relation to last month’s strikes, and that 358 had been dismissed.

Cambodian trade level rises

The Phnom Penh Post

Tuesday, 26 October 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

   

The value of Cambodia's total trade has risen by 18 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to 2009. Photo by: Sovan Philong

CAMBODIA’S total trade has risen around 18 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period of 2009, fuelled by growing garment exports.

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce yesterday showed the Kingdom’s total imports and export were worth US$5.975 billion from January until September this year, from $5.05 billion last year. Total exports surged about 21 percent to $2.536 billion from $2.096 billion on last year, while the total imports rose by 16 percent to $3.44 billion.

Both government officials and an independent economist yesterday cited the improvement of the local economy and the diversification of markets as growth factors.

“We have made the trade deals with many countries in the region in order to make more exports this year, which we had not done last time,” said Ok Boung, secretary of state for the Ministry of Commerce.

Kang Chandararot, an independent economist and president of Cambodia Institute for Development Study, agreed.

“The surge reflects the recovery of our economy as well as the world – which show reliable [growth],” he said.

He added that the main driver for export growth was garment and textile exports, after the government launched a policy to enhance competitiveness and seek new markets rather than relying solely on exports to the United States and European Union. He said rising imports “emphasised the growth of our economy”.

Quarter on quarter, trade grew around 14 percent, reaching $2.293 billion in the third quarter from $2.017 billion in the second. Of that, exports rose 40 percent, while imports decined by 1.4 percent.

Ok Boung put the decrease down to a surplus of raw materials imported during the first half of 2010.