Will Cambodia overtake us in global competitiveness?

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer 
By: Francis Lim
28 September 2011


The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently released the 2011-2012 edition of the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR).

The WEF, through the GCR, reports on the competitiveness of economies worldwide annually on the basis of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), a comprehensive tool that measures the microeconomic and macroeconomic foundations of national competitiveness.

There is both good and bad news for the Philippines from the latest survey.

The good news, as trumpeted in the major dailies recently, is that the Philippines improved its ranking from 85th out of 139 countries in 2010-2011 to 75th out of 142 countries in the most recent report.

Kudos to the Aquino administration!

The report covers the first full year of the Aquino administration.

But lest we are lulled into complacency, let’s do a reality check on how we compare with other Asean countries that were rated in the 2011-2012 survey.

To start with, there’s no question any more that Asean countries, which trailed behind us during our glory days in Asia—Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand—have long overtaken us in the Asean ranking. Even war-ravaged Vietnam has already surpassed us a few years ago. The data speak for themselves. Res ipsa loquitur, as we lawyers call it.

Focusing on the 2011-2012 survey, Singapore scored the highest among the Asean countries in the overall score. In fact, Singapore—a tiny nation not gifted with abundant natural resources like us—is way up in the world ranking.

From fifth place in 2008, Singapore moved up to second place in this year’s ranking, displacing powerhouses like the United States in the world ranking.

The Philippines is second-to-the-last in the Asean (75th), 10 notches below Vietnam (65th) and better only than another war-torn country, Cambodia (97th ).

Indeed, we have our work cut out for us.

There are three sub-indices in the GCI divided into 12 pillars by which countries all over the world are rated.
The first sub-index is “Basic Requirements,” which ranks countries in terms of the quality of their primary education, public institutions, macroeconomic environment, and health.

On this sub-index, we placed second to the last in the Asean at 100th place, better only than Cambodia, which is ranked 108th in the world.  Clearly, we were outranked by Vietnam (76th place) by 24 steps. This is not even comparable with our co-founding members of the Asean like Indonesia (53rd), Thailand (46th), Malaysia (25th) and, of course, Singapore (1st).

The second sub-index is “Efficiency Enhancers,” which rank countries in terms of higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, and domestic market size.

We ranked third to the last in the Asean region. Asean countries like Thailand and Vietnam, which we used to teach in the not-so-distant past, are now ahead of us by miles. Thailand, for example, is ranked 43rd compared with our ranking of 70th place. Even Vietnam, whose score deteriorated from the previous year, is higher than us by four notches at 66th place.

The last sub-index is “Innovation and Sophistication,” where countries are ranked on the basis of their business sophistication and innovation.

Here, we are again ranked third to the last in the Asean at 74th place.  And, as with the other sub-indices, we are far behind our co-founding members of the Asean with Thailand at 51st; Indonesia at 41st; Malaysia at 22nd and Singapore at 11th place in the world.

While we outperformed Cambodia in the latest survey, Cambodia did extremely well in improving its ranking during the recent years.

Let’s do a four-year review (2008-2012) based on the readily available figures from the WEF website.
In terms of overall ranking, we dropped four ranks from 71st in the 2008-2009 ranking to 75th in this year’s ranking. Cambodia, on the other hand, went up 12 notches from 109th to 97th place. Cambodia surpassed us by 16 notches in the overall score over the four-year period.

In terms of the sub-indices, Cambodia did a lot better than the Philippines.

In “Basic Requirements,” which accounts for about 60 percent of the total score, Cambodia went down by only one notch while we nose-dived by 15 notches from 85th to 100th position. Otherwise stated, we were overtaken by Cambodia by 14 notches during the four-year period.

Similarly, in “Efficiency Enhancers,” we went down by two steps (rank 68th to 70th) while Cambodia gained 17 steps from 115th position in 2008 to 98th place this year. Using marathon language, Cambodia outran us by 19 miles in this leg of the race over a four-year period.

Our poor ratings in “Basic Requirements” and “Efficiency Enhancers” vis-a-vis Cambodia should be a wake-up call for us. These two sub-indices carry significant weights in our category of the global competitiveness report.

Lastly, in terms of “Innovation and Sophistication,” Cambodia improved its ranking by 21 notches from 112th place in 2008 to 91st in this year’s ranking.

The Philippines, on the other hand, went down seven rungs of the competitive ladder from 67th to 74th place over the four-year period.  Again, Cambodia outpaced us by a whopping 28 long miles in the race for business sophistication and innovation.

The big question then is: “Will Cambodia overtake the Philippines in the world competitiveness ranking?”
The writing on the wall appears clear, erasable only IF we as a people finally get our act together.
Paraphrasing President Barrack Obama, this, indeed, is the leadership challenge to President Aquino—shall we move forward together as a nation, or not at all?

(The author, formerly the president and CEO of the Philippine Stock Exchange, is now the co-managing partner and head of the Corporate and Special Projects Department of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices or Accralaw. He can be contacted through felim@accralaw.com.)

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Ministers react to UN criticism of NGO Law

The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 30 September 2011 12:01 Bridget Di Certo

Government officials yesterday said criticisms of the draft NGO law made by United Nations Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi on Wednesday were out of date as significant modifications are being discussed for the “fourth generation” of the legislation. During a session at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, UN Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi flatly informed the Human Rights Council that the Cambodian Government should scrap the current version of the controversial draft law.

“The government should not to proceed with the draft NGO law in its present form,” he said.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said yesterday the criticisms were ill-directed as there was a fourth generation of the law that heeded advice from international organisations.

“International organisations have given a lot of advice, consultation with ministers has given a lot of modifications and the draft is now in the fourth generation,” he said.

The draft law has drawn strong criticism from NGOs in Cambodia and abroad that have slammed the legislation’s burdensome registration requirements and provisions they say allow the government to arbitrarily shut down organisations that fall foul of it.

They have also attacked the process of drafting the law, claiming the government has effectively shut them out from have any meaningful input on the legislation.

UN expert says Cambodia rights progress a 'mixed bag'

 Source: AFP, 29 Sep 2011

GENEVA — Despite significant human rights progress in Cambodia, freedom of expression has worsened, a UN expert told AFP, describing the situation as "a mixed bag".

"In some areas there has been some improvement, whereas in some areas things have regressed a bit," the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi said.
"So it's a mixed bag," he said.

While praising the government's decision to reconsider a controversial draft law on civil society bodies, he said "freedom of expression and harassment of civil society representatives, lawyers and people belonging to the opposition has worsened."

The problem, he said, was a "harsher, less liberal interpretation and application of the law" by judges and prosecutors.

"The law, as it stands today, makes defamation, disinformation and falsification of information criminal offenses," Subedi said, explaining that these offenses should be decriminalized.

He gave the example of a UN staff member who was jailed for six months, "for merely printing information from the internet and sharing it with her colleagues".

The laws are also impacting policymaking, Subedi said.

"When an MP criticizes a government policy ... that MP has to be very careful with the words that they use, whether that will amount to a criticism of the prime minister, or ministers, because that could be construed as defamation," the rapporteur explained.

Subedi however praised the government's decision to reconsider a controversial law which would require any civil society organisation, including NGOs, to register with the government and notify authorities of its activities.

"This law has been sent back to the minister of the interior. And they are reconsidering it, which is a good indication.

"They could have pushed it through parliament, which they didn't," Subedi noted.

Dirty Work

Source:Southeast Asia Globe
Thursday, September 29, 2011 - by Laura J. Snook 


The country's chief graft-buster on the fledgling effort to clean up the Kingdom.

Om Yentieng, the head of the new Anti-Corruption Unit

Abuses of power and grand corruption have become synonymous with Cambodia, a nation still struggling to restore order after decades of political violence.
A network of tycoons, political figures and government officials is accused of reinforcing the culture of impunity and limiting progress on reforms (Transparency International, which measures perceptions of corruption, ranked Cambodia 154th out of 178 countries in 2010 – alongside states such as Russia and the Congo).
Last month, after more than 15 years in the making, Cambodia’s anti-corruption law finally came into force. A few months earlier, the government’s fledgling Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) had secured its first high-profile conviction, that of provincial prosecutor Top Chan Sereyvuth.
ACU President Om Yentieng personally led police to Sereyvuth’s door and the prosecutor was subsequently sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment (the sensational trial of four-star general and former anti-drug czar Moek Dara, accused of soliciting bribes from drug traffickers and even stealing their shipments, continues). The Southeast Asia Globe recently met with Om Yentieng to discuss one of the Kingdom’s greatest challenges.
How would you assess the ACU’s first 12 months of operation?

You must remember the ACU doesn’t yet have teeth, but it is important the public is aware of what we are doing. We are working with the courts to ensure that, once a case is concluded, the details of the investigation can be made public. People should have the right to ask for this information. It will help educate society and prevent acts of corruption, and we want the public to be aware of the kind of tricks that are used.

You say you want to change public attitudes. How much importance does the ACU attach to prosecutions?

The aim of the ACU is to arrest one person in order to change the attitude and behaviour of 1,000 people, not to arrest 1,000 people in order to make one person be good. The concern I have is the difficulties or obstacles caused by some judges, when the investigating judge is also the judge in the trial.
What has the public response to the unit’s work been so far?

I believe the public applauds the achievements we have made and they are also looking forward to the ACU being more active. We have received 200 complaints about corruption so far. That’s a good sign from the people.

What measures does the ACU take to protect whistle-blowers?

The ACU makes it a priority to protect informants by protecting their identities. We think about transparency and protection before we publicise the complaint. The suspect must not know who the complainant is. Then people will support us more and provide more information to us. Step by step, they will be able to show their faces a lot more. If we destroy our sources, we will not survive, but if we protect our sources, we can develop. If we think we can’t protect a witness, we cannot send the case to court.   

When the deadline for asset declaration arrived earlier this year, several high-ranking officials resigned rather than fulfil their obligations. What was your reaction?

Even though there may be irregularities, the ACU is not able to catch or arrest them. It does not fall under our remit. Even checking the forms for mistakes is not our job. On the other hand, about 99% of officials came to declare their assets – a spiritual performance of good acts. We saw only one guy who was openly acting against this process, but, like a monkey, he cannot hide, even if he doesn’t respect us.

Critics have suggested the unit’s work is politically motivated. How would you respond?

We are trying to lead the ACU as one unit with no political factions, but outside the ACU there are probably factions in three or four political parties. We think we can cut across this by working together. The most important thing for us is proof: if you have strong proof, no one can convince us to abandon a case.

Organisations such as Amnesty International and Global Witness have, in the past, named senior government ministers in connection with corruption. Are you prepared to investigate the upper echelons?

Some of the articles are correct; some are not. We have to open ways of getting the information and proof provided by these media, rather than closing the door and receiving nothing.
What are your priorities for the next 12 months?

The most important thing is to get people to respect the law. We will focus on education and prevention. We have invited Cambodian artists to write songs or make movies about our work. We recently sent some people to Banteay Meanchey and they phoned to say they weren’t feeling comfortable, so we’re hoping to send weapons to them soon. We will face some problems, especially with drugs, because you can’t eliminate them. Even in jail, they continue
to sell drugs.

USAid and DfID: two peas in the same development pod?

Source:guardian.co.uk  

Liz Ford Monday 26 September 2011 

They co-host events, love results, and adopt similar methods. Do the US and UK development arms enjoy a 'special relationship'?

DfID's Andrew Mitchell confers with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton at the UN. The UK and US have a similar approach to development. Photograph: David Karp/AP

Rajiv Shah, the head of the US international development agency USAid, and the UK's international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, were in New York last week to celebrate success.

As part of their UN general assembly agenda, the pair co-hosted an event to showcase the ideas that are driving progress towards the millennium development goals (MDGs). Development programmes in Peru, Brazil, Nepal, Zambia and Gambia were among those singled out for praise.

In Brazil, the Bolsa Familia scheme, which provides conditional cash grants to mothers, has helped reduce the poverty rate from 42.7% to 28.8% since 2003. Meanwhile, focused attention on increasing access to school through the introduction of bursaries and awareness campaigns in Zambia has raised enrolment rates. In Gambia, investment in primary and secondary education has led to gender parity not only in primary school, but also in the first few years of secondary schooling. And Peru's improvements in healthcare and nutrition have substantially cut child deaths.

Speaking to the Guardian ahead of the event, Mitchell stressed the need for the world to focus on what can be achieved before the MDG 2015 deadline, rather than spending too much time considering what might come after.

"What we are trying to do is to focus in on each of the eight MDGs and underline and evaluate what works. I'm always nervous about people doing work on what could come after the MDGs, because we need everyone to focus on the last four years and get as far as we can," he said. He then added that the UK's Department for International Development (DfID) is doing a "huge amount of work" to formulate post-2015 plans that will be "strongly pursuing results".

"Results" is a word that comes up a lot when you speak to Mitchell and Shah.
"The [MDG] event really came out of discussions we had a little bit less than a year ago about results-orientated development," said Shah last week. "We wanted to highlight and recognise those places that have taken that results approach and successfully delivered."

"Each case study highlights that significant measurable documented results can be achieved against the MDGs."

It's perhaps not surprising that talk of results is such a big thing for USAid and DfID. Both departments are having to justify aid spending during the worst economic crisis since 1929. Both agree that showing taxpayers aid works is important.

Over the past 18 months, the US and the UK have been treading very similar development policy paths. As well as results, both talk about the important role to be played by the private sector, and by science and technology, in bringing about development. And both pepper speeches and announcements with mentions of national interests, security and power. The opening line of the executive summary in the USAid policy framework for 2011 to 2015, published earlier this month, provides a clear example. "International development co-operation is a key component of American power, along with diplomacy and defense," it reads.

This like-mindedness "helps us work together ever more efficiently and effectively", said Shah. "I see that [USAid work] as very consistent with what Andrew Mitchell is doing in the UK and other European countries," he added.

So much so that, according to the Washington Post, Mitchell spent time in Washington last week to bolster Shah's campaign against cuts. The Post reported that Mitchell was in town to persuade Republicans that cutting aid was not the conservative way of doing things.

Last Thursday, President Barack Obama spoke of the "special relationship" between the US and the UK and between him and Britain's prime minister, David Cameron. Could there be a similar bond developing between Mitchell and Shah and their two departments? It seems not. Although "very close to the US", the UK is "very close to a lot of different countries", said Mitchell, who is off to China shortly to explore opportunities. "We are getting increasingly close to China." Britain's "centre right development policy" is "winning support all over the world," he added.

Cambodia: A place for pioneer investors

CNN, 26 September 2011
By Pauline Chiou 
 
Phnom Penh, Cambodia (CNN) – The most common image of Cambodia is the land of ancient temples and budget travelers. There's now something else putting Cambodia on the map: foreign investors.
Cambodia's devastating recent history set the country back a generation. From 1975-78, the Communist Khmer Rouge killed intellectuals, destroyed the education system and pushed for an agrarian society that required families to be uprooted and separated.

By the end of the terror, between 1.7 million to 3 million Cambodians are estimated to have died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. The Vietnamese occupation that followed and civil war between a weakened Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian government also stripped the country of stability for another two decades.

Today the country is politically stable with a democracy that's a constitutional monarchy. The children who survived the Khmer Rouge era are now parents. Half the country is now under the age of 25. Every year, a quarter million young Cambodians enter the job market and the government needs to create jobs for them,
says Stephen Higgins, CEO of ANZ Cambodia.

"The Cambodian government is remarkably pro-business particularly coming from a Communist background. Any sector you can own 100%. There are banks here that are 100% foreign owned. Most manufacturing is 100% owned by foreigners."

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia with more than 80% of the population living in rural areas. Labor is cheap in Cambodia - cheaper than China, Vietnam or Thailand. Minimum wage is $61/month.
"My success story is labor. My labor force is very young. If there's a manual skill set or artistic aptitude I need, these folks are good at it. And I'm paying one-third of the cost of my Chinese counterparts," says Scott Huff, owner of Innovate International which makes a niche pet treat in Cambodia for the U.S. and European markets.

Brad Holes is an American who set up a stuffed animal factory in Phnom Penh. His company, "First & Main." employs 350 Cambodian workers and is already looking to expand into a bigger factory.
As one of three American manufacturers currently in Cambodia, Holes says he feels like a pioneer who has to roll with the challenges that arise in a developing country. For example, getting financing in Cambodia is not easy.

"I've talked to the major banks about credit lines. It's just not available," says Holes. "So we have to rely on private equity money and other funding – like my own personal funding or trade finance."

The road to success in Cambodia is filled with potholes that mirror some of the infrastructure. Power outages occur about once a week because power plants are isolated in various provinces and there's no national power grid. The cost of power is more expensive in Cambodia compared to other countries in the region.
After several years of delays, the Cambodian Stock Exchange opened this July, but there are no companies trading yet. The stock exchange says it plans to list its first two companies by the end of this year. They are state-owned enterprises, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and Telecom Cambodia.

No private company has come forward to list yet. Part of the problem is securities rules require three years of audited financial statements by one of three global accounting firms designated by the Cambodian Stock Exchange.

"When I look at our large local companies, I can't think of a single one that has audited financial statements at the moment," says Higgins.

Still, Cambodia holds appeal for the pioneer investor who wants to get in first and has the patience to ride out the bumps in the road.

Millennium Development Goals prove too ambitious

Sources: BBC, The Lancet, 
22 September 2011

Just nine of 137 developing countries are set to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 & 5 on improving child and maternal health, say experts.

A report published in the Lancet predicts that no country in sub-Saharan Africa will meet the goals by 2015, and 23 countries in the region currently look unlikely to achieve MDG4 before 2040.  MDG4 aims to reduce the death rate for children aged under five by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. MDG5 aims to cut deaths among pregnant women and new mothers by three-quarters during the same timescale.   However, the researchers note that annual infant deaths around the world have dropped from 11.6 million in 1990 to about 7.2 million. They argue that while many aspects of health systems ‘limit the scale-up of child and maternal interventions’, some intervention strategies, for example vaccination and vitamin A supplementation, can be delivered even in health systems with very restricted capacities.   China, Rwanda and Botswana were praised for ‘substantial acceleration’ in tackling child mortality in the past decade. Countries making slower progress on the infant death target include Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Cambodia PM scores in football diplomacy with Thailand

AFP
Saturday, Sep 24, 2011

 

PHNOM PENH - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen led his side to a 10-7 victory in a friendly football match Saturday between Thai and Cambodian officials designed to showcase the neighbours' improving relations.

Hun Sen, clad in a red number nine shirt, smiled broadly as he scored his fourth goal in the final minutes to loud cheers from the 50,000-strong crowd at the Olympic Stadium in the capital Phnom Penh.

Hundreds of Thai "Red Shirts", who are loyal to Thailand's ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, travelled to Cambodia to cheer on the teams, made up of a mix of Thai Red politicians and Cambodian government figures.

They contributed to the party atmosphere by chanting "I love Thaksin" and "I love Hun Sen".
In a pre-match speech, the Cambodian premier said that "the nightmare" era between the nations, who engaged in deadly border clashes earlier this year, was over.

"Today is a historic event in the relations between Cambodia and Thailand," he said.

The cordial game came just a week after new Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made her first official trip to Phnom Penh, quickly followed by a visit from her brother Thaksin, described by Hun Sen as an "eternal friend".

Ties between the two nations have warmed significantly since Yingluck's July election win, backed by her sibling.

Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, remains a controversial figure in Thailand but is considered a hero by the mainly working-class Reds.

Under previous Thai leader Abhisit Vejjajiva the border row, which centres around an ancient temple, twice escalated into heavy fighting this year, prompting Phnom Penh to take the dispute to the United Nation's highest court.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice in July asked both nations to withdraw military personnel from around the Preah Vihear temple complex.

Hun Sen and Yingluck agreed last week that they would redeploy troops away from the area.

Jordan rights group: no proof of rape at factory

By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press – Sep 8, 2011 

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A Jordanian human rights group found no clear evidence to support allegations of rape made by several female workers at one of the country's largest garment-makers exporting to the United States, according to an investigative report obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Recent allegations of sexual assaults at the Classic Fashion factory sparked a petition campaign by U.S. labor activists that prompted several U.S. retailers to stop placing orders with the plant. The controversy fueled worries in Jordan because textile exports to the U.S. are a major engine of the country's economy.

The petition campaign began in June after a Bangladeshi worker told police that her Sri Lankan manager, Anil Santha, had raped her three times since March. Santha was arrested and has been charged with rape, and his trial is expected this year. He denied the accusation in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, a U.S.-based workers group that helped the woman present her case to police and then flew her home to Bangladesh, says dozens of other women have been raped at the plant and that it has collected testimonies from some of them.

The group said it asked the National Center for Human Rights, a non-governmental rights group in Jordan, to investigate. The National Center said in a report on its inquiry that it, other NGOs and government representatives conducted interviews in the plant during repeated visits since June.

According to the National Center, six Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan workers claimed to have been raped or sexually harassed by Santha in 2010 and 2011. One woman became pregnant, according to a copy of the center's report obtained by the AP. A statement from an Indian worker said he saw Santha having sexual intercourse with some female workers and that some had been raped. The man, identified only as Munir, said Santha used his position to "silence" victims and that workers "were frightened of him."

However, the National Center said it found no information or evidence to support the rape allegations. It said there were contradictions in the testimonies over "the place and time of the alleged harassment" and that its investigators suspected the allegations were "malicious and aimed at undermining the factory."

The report gave no examples of contradictions and did not elaborate on what raised the investigators' suspicions.

Classic, whose factory is in northern Jordan, boasts annual exports of $125 million, nearly 13 percent of Jordan's $1 billion garment exports to the United States last year. Overall, garment exports make up roughly 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Change.org, a social networking platform, says it has collected more than 144,000 signatures by U.S. consumers calling for American retailers to cut ties with the plant. Classic produces clothing for Wal-Mart, Macy's, Kohl's and Lands' End, as well as Champion, a HanesBrands line, sold at Target. Macy's, Kohl's and Lands' End have halted orders. Wal-Mart and Target have not responded to requests for comment.

Matt Hall, a vice president for external communications for HanesBrands, said when the rape allegations surfaced, his company sent a representative to Jordan to ensure that the "workplace was safe and sound while professional investigations could be conducted."

"Before HanesBrands draws any conclusions of its own, the company is awaiting the outcome of the case before the Jordanian criminal justice system," he told the AP in a written statement.

But he said investigations, including that by the National Center, raised "counter-issues that also need to be addressed, including claims that there is evidence of witness tampering and that the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights did not, in fact, interview any of the purported former workers making the allegations and has not shared the statements and information that its report is purportedly based on."

Charles Kernaghan, director of the Pittsburgh-based Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, said he and members of his group repeatedly met with scores of Classic factory workers, including rape victims, since 2008.

"Our last meeting in late December was in a rundown hotel in Jordan, where dozens of workers visited secretly to tell us about the atrocities committed by their superiors in the factory," he said. He said the institute also had taped testimonies from the factory's rape victims. Several videos of testimonies are on its website.
Associated Press Writer Dale Gavlak in Amman contributed to this report.

On the Net:

• Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights: http://www.globallabourrights.org/

Haiti - Economy : Great first Haitian to the Apparel Sourcing Show

Source: Haiti Libre
29/08/2011


After the success of the Apparel Sourcing Show 2010, to New York, Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France has decided to launch the adventure in Paris at the Bourget. This unmissable event for order givers will be held from September 19 to 22, 2011.

On the program of Apparel Sourcing : eady-to-wear for men, women, and children's fashion for the first time fashion accessories (bags, shoes, hats, scarves...)

In addition to the pavilions of the largest garment-producing countries such Texprocil, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and China Textile and Apparel Trade Fair (CTAF), a new transatlantic offer was introduced, with Haiti which comes for the first time in Europe.

Haitians are among "the most active of the market by providing a large part of the North American production." Their presence to the Apparel Sourcing and in Europe is a first for the industry of Haiti. For a long monopolized by the U.S. market, it takes advantage of the new sourcing organization to develop its market by concentrating on other continents and new partnerships.

The cluster Haiti Textiles Industry will introduce its products, its production capacity and of creation at the show." Its offer is particularly interesting in terms of cost/minute, of quality and an possibility to enter the U.S. market in a free zone for the brands wishing to develop their markets in the United States.

According to organizers, "Apparel Sourcing" is "the ideal platform for order givers who opt for small batch orders."

PI/ HaitiLibre

UN praises VN’s successful MDGs implementation

Source:saigon-gpdaily.com.vn

Friday, Sep 23, 2011

The UN highly values Vietnam ’s success in implementing millennium development goals (MDGs) as well as its effective participation in the “One-UN” initiative in the country. UN Development Programme (UNDP) leader Helen Clark made the praise at a high-level meeting on commitment to accelerating the implementation of MDGs, held in New York on Sept. 21 on the sidelines of the 66 th session of the UN General Assembly. The event was jointly organised by the UNDP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank (WB) and the Japanese Government. Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Bui The Giang, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, reported that Vietnam has recorded remarkable achievements in implementing the MDGs adopted by the UN Summit in 2000 thanks to its high economic growth rate and successful implementation of socio-economic policies. The UN and international community have recognised Vietnam as one of the Asia-Pacific countries successfully implementing MDGs, he noted. “ Vietnam is now able to say that it has fulfilled five out of eight MDGs ahead of schedule and is speeding up the implementation of the remaining goals in order to fulfil them on schedule in 2015,” Giang stressed. According to the Vietnamese diplomat, Vietnam has faced numerous challenges during its MDGs implementation as it has to ensure the all-nation implementation of the goals, bringing benefits to all people strata, overcome difficulties derived from the global economic and financial crisis and deal with climate change consequences and protectionism. To surmount these challenges, Vietnam will make stronger efforts to better integrate MDGs into the country’s socio-economic development plans, programmes and strategies in all aspects, he said. Therefore, the country wishes to receive continued support and assistance from the UN, international organisations and donors to successfully implement MDGs, he added. Ambassador Giang also affirmed that in the context of difficulties in realising MDGs in many regions throughout the world, Vietnam fully supports the UN’s view to continue considering the MDGs implementation one of its highest priorities.

Accountability "Key" for Maternal and Child Health Projects

Source: SOS Children's Village, Canada

21 Sept 2011

21/09/2011 - With meetings at the United Nations underway, Canada's Prime Minister has announced new funding for maternal and child health projects, of which accountability measures must play a key role.

Though the Palestinian quest for statehood has been at the forefront of the coverage of this week's meetings at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, several important announcements regarding the health of women and children have also been made.

The Canadian government has decided to fund 28 maternal and child health projects over the next five years, announced Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday. By 2016, the government will deploy $82 million to support projects across Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Globally, says the UN, eight million children die of preventable illnesses annually, while 350,000 women die of complications of pregnancy or childbirth. At the same time, 600,000 more young people are surviving early childhood, while 70,000 mothers are surviving childbirth – proving that with effort, concrete gains can be made. The UN hopes to save the lives of 16 million women and children living in the 49 poorest countries in the world.

The Canadian funds were committed more than a year ago through the G8 Muskoka Initiative. This brings the present allocation of funds to $740 million and the total number of projects to 51. In total, $2.85 billion has been pledged for the 2010-2015 period. This figure includes the $1.1 billion pledged at last year's G8 summit in Ontario.

While attending this week's high-level meetings at the United Nations General Assembly, the Prime Minister said that the international plan to spend $40 billion on the health of women and children will depend on accountability and wise use of the funds.

"As we press for accountability,” he said, “always remember that mothers, children and newborns ... are counting on us."

Given the recent austerity measures undertaken by countries, questions have been raised about how these aid plans can be financed.

"The key is accountability," said Mr. Harper.

Indeed, Dr. Julio Frenk of the World Health Organization (WHO) has noted that poor countries are taking on greater financial responsibilities for their own development needs. This, he says, shows a transition from a "paternalistic" development model to one of "shared accountability." Among these countries are Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal, who are setting aside more funds for the health of women and children. Both Bangladesh and Nepal, for instance, have trained thousands of skilled birth attendants.

Prime Minister Harper was the co-chair of a UN Commission on maternal and child health. The report, entitled, Keeping Promises, Measuring Results, was compiled over the past few months, and makes ten recommendations for ensuring accurate health data on the needs of women and children, as well as for ensuring accountability.

Among the recommendations are taking steps to register vital events (including births, deaths and cause of death); integrating technological improvements in health information systems; making available more detailed information on health care expenditures in the 75 countries with high maternal and child death rates; and ensuring that government can regularly review funding allocation to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care. The suggested deadline for progress on these recommendations is 2015 – also the deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), of which maternal and child health are critical components.

Yet, despite progress, few countries are completely on target to meet these goals. According to research by the Health Metrics and Evaluation unit of the University of Washington in Seattle, only China, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Mongolia, Peru, Syria and Tunisia are expected to meet both MDGs on maternal and child health. A total of 31 countries are likely to achieve the two-thirds reduction in child mortality from 1990 levels by 2015, though only 13 are likely to achieve the three-quarters reduction in maternal mortality over the same period.

Recently-announced projects funded by Canada will be implemented in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Laos, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Agencies awarded funding include several Canadian universities as well as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency Canada, Aga Khan Foundation, Canadian Red Cross, Christian Children's Fund of Canada, Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology, CHF, Plan Canada, Save the Children, World University Service of Canada, and World Vision.

MDG targets are overlooking inequality

Source: Guardian

Richard Jolly Thursday 22 September 2011 07.00 BST guardian.co.uk  

Even in countries where progress has been made towards the millennium development goals, rising inequality between rich and poor threaten civil society and economic growth

Children fish at Kunwarpur village, about 70km east of Allahabad, India. The country's rapid economic growth has seen the gap between rich and poor grow. Photograph: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

The incomes of the richest sections of society are soaring in the UK, China and India, and in most other countries as well. The poorest groups are seeing slow improvements at best, and often decline. Recent estimates indicate that at the current rate it will take more than 800 years for the bottom billion of the world population to achieve 10% of global income.

The UN general assembly began its 66th session last week. Many of the heads of state attending will no doubt report on their country's progress towards the millennium development goals. They're also likely to discuss the targets that will succeed the MDGs after 2015. However, there will almost certainly be a looming gap in these presentations: the rising inequalities between and within countries.

A year ago, coinciding with the UN MDG summit, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the MDG Achievement Fund released a report showing that the MDG targets largely overlooked inequality. Even in countries where there has been progress towards the MDGs, inequalities have grown. A Unicef study shows that only a third of the countries that have reduced national rates of child mortality have succeeded in reducing the gap between mortality rates in the richest and poorest households.

Inequality matters not just for those at the bottom. Highly unequal countries tend to grow more slowly, are more prone to conflict and have weaker civil societies. The much-cited study The Spirit Level found that across developed countries, crime, disease and environmental problems were exacerbated by inequality. Such ill effects in society made everyone worse off, even the middle classes.

What can be done? Recently, key officials from UN agencies, development NGOs, research institutions and the UK, Brazilian and Indian governments met in London to explore an agenda for tackling inequality. The consultation was convened by the IDS and the Achievement Fund.

The meeting examined successful inequality reduction policies, sharing the lessons of a handful of countries that have defied the global trend. Thirteen countries in Latin America, including Brazil, Argentina and Chile, have narrowed the gap between the incomes of the poorest and wealthiest groups over the last decade. Similar positive trends have been seen in Malaysia, Thailand and in several African nations.

How was progress possible in these countries? Inequalities fell when governments expanded social protection programmes like Brazil's Bolsa Familia. Minimum wage legislation and policies allowing more people to access secondary and higher education also contributed to success. Successful countries used progressive taxation or channelled mining and oil revenues to fund inequality-reducing programmes.

Today, some UN agencies are also beginning to prioritise inequality. Under executive director Tony Lake, Unicef has made "equity" its top priority. UNDP has also made it a major concern. Some British NGOs are also targeting inequality. The London meeting concluded by setting out priorities for action. First, equity needs to be mainstreamed in the development agenda, based around making growth inclusive. This draws on evidence that reducing inequalities is likely to strengthen economic growth. Second, NGOs, UN agencies and the media should highlight success stories where countries have reduced inequality. The strategies used in these cases can be a focus of discussion – how can they be applied and adapted elsewhere?

More attention is needed to monitor inequalities. We need better tools to measure where these have been reduced, where they are growing and why. UN agencies can lead by developing collection of better indicators. These must incorporate a range of measures of inequality, not just income.

An agenda centred on women and children has wide political appeal, and can move past entrenched ideological battles. Focusing on a human rights is another basis for mobilising political support.

Last week, the general assembly chief, Joseph Deiss, said progress on poverty reduction over the last year had been satisfactory. It is doubtful that progress on inequality in most countries could be similarly assessed. Indeed, worrying economic prospects across the developed world and challenges to redistributional tax policy in the UK suggest concerted action is necessary to sustain and expand the progress that has been made on tackling inequality.

• Sir Richard Jolly is a research associate and former director of the Institute of Development Studies. He previously served as an assistant secretary general of the United Nations, and was a senior official in UNDP and Unicef.

Only 4 African countries ‘ll achieve MDGs goal by 2015 – World Bank

Source: Vanguard, 22 Sept. 2011

Washington DC (NAN) Only four African countries are likely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015, a World Bank report has revealed.

The report released at the ongoing Annual Meeting of the bank and International Monetary Fund attributed this to accelerated growth and progress on social indicators.

“Four  countries: Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Malawi will likely achieve most of the Millennium  Development Goals by 2015 or soon thereafter.

“Despite success, serious development challenges remain in Africa,’’ it said.

The report noted that up till date, about half of the populations in Africa lives on 1.25 dollar per day adding that government remained weak.

It added  that about 645 women die during pregnancy and child birth per 100,000 life birth.
The report observed that conditions were improving in Africa as maternal mortality had declined by 26 per cent between 1990 and 2009.

“Child mortality rates are also declining, the rate of HIV infection is stabilising , primary school completion rate is rising faster than anywhere else in the world and the percentage of people living in extreme poverty falling,’’ it said.

The report also pointed out that in 2010, the foreign direct investment flows to Africa surpassed those received by India, with international capital inflow rising to 4.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
According to the report, remittances have reached the estimated 21.5 billion dollars.
The World Bank report noted that business climate had improved with three countries in the region namely, Cape Verde, Rwanda and Zambia being among the 10 economies in the world that most improved the ease of doing business in 2010.

“The climate for market –oriented, pro-poor reforms is proving robust and the voice of civil society is getting louder,” it said. (NAN)

Radio dramas: The White Cloth

“The White Cloth”

--*V*--

Story Outline

Sophary is a teenage-woman who was living in a very traditional and strict family in her hometown. She could not stand her family, with her parents who always told and guided her to do everything she mostly did not want to do and also prohibited her from doing what she wanted. Sophary then decides to ask her friend, Phina, to help her escape to live in the capital. She becomes a factory worker in a firm named “Soksabay”. While working there, she meets a man, Vira, who she considers as her future husband. They finally make a serious relationship, which ends up with pregnancy.

Sophary is a completely white blank cloth who knows nothing about how to take care of herself during pregnancy, but fortunately she has Phina who is a member of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Committee. Phina explains to her the advantages of ante-natal checks at the hospital. After finding out that Sophary is pregnant, Vira decides to leave her alone with a two-month-old embryo inside her abdomen.

Sophary can not live with this shame at all, so she goes to see the doctor following Phina’s advice, not with a thought of having the health check but abortion instead. The doctor explains to her about the negative impact of abortion and tells Sophary of her own experience raising her children alone for 15 years since her husband left. Sophary makes up her mind and decides to keep the baby, full of confidence and fully supported by her best friend. The doctor also explains to her about the three groups of healthy food that she needs to eat.

One day, Phina goes to talk with Vira about leaving Sophary, while he is drinking with his friend in front of the rent house. As a result, Phina is raped and ends up with another baby. The two best friends both become pregnant but they both agree with a strong commitment to raise their babies alone without fathers. Phina is a strong-hearted person, and at the end is voted to be a committee member of the factory.

Three main messages:

1-  Go to the health centre after recently missing period

2-  Three main groups of healthy food

3-  Eating safety at clean environment

  

Produced by ៖        Voice of Democracy VOD​​​

Sponsored by ៖      (MDG-F Joint Programme)  via Better Factories Cambodia of ILO

Race to save mothers, children set to fall short

Source: AFP, 19 September 2011
PARIS — A global campaign to save new mothers and children under five in developing nations has made strong gains but is set to fall well shy of UN goals, according to a study released Tuesday.

Only nine out of 137 countries are on track to meet the twin Millennium Development Goals (MDG), set in 2000, of slashing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, and maternal deaths by three-quarters over the same period.

Based on current trends, 31 developing nations will reach the first target, and 13 will achieve the second, said the study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
The nine countries set to achieve both UN targets for 2015 are: China, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Mongolia, Peru, Syria and Tunisia.

The glass-half-empty glass-half-full report, published in The Lancet, nonetheless underscored major progress in reducing child mortality.

Overall, the number of deaths of children under five in the African, Asian and Latin American countries examined dropped from 11.6 million in 1990 to an estimated 7.2 million in 2011, an average decline of 2.2 percent per year.

Some nations -- including Cambodia, Ecuador, Rwanda, Malaysia and Vietnam -- saw at least a five percent rate of decline over the last decade, more than twice the global average.

But such advances must not obscure the fact that millions of infants and small children succumb to preventable deaths every year, a fact highlighted by the huge gap between rich and poor nations, the authors said.
In 2011 the childhood mortality in Sweden, Italy and Greece is about 0.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, whereas in Niger and Equatorial Guinea it is about 87, a 173-fold difference.

Also worrying, said the researchers, was the mortality rate among infants during the first week of life, which declined only 1.7 percent over the two-decade period.

"The difference between neonatal and overall mortality in children under five might seem small ... but it can be a sign of other problems in the health system," co-author Haidong Wang, a professor at IHME, said in a statement.

For maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth, the number fell from just under 410,000 in 1990 to 273,500 in 2011.

Kenya, Morocco, Zambia and Zimbabwe led the way over the last decade with annual declines in mortality of more than eight percent. Even war-torn Afghanistan -- which continues to have one of the worst maternal death rates in the world -- has shown a nearly five percent annual decline since 2000.

Part of this improvement, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is due to better prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS, the authors said.

Global health programmes and more insecticide-treated bednets to combat malaria have also played a role.
For child mortality, improved education among women of reproductive age alone accounted for more than half of the decline, according to an earlier study by the same team.
But the ambitious 2015 goals will still remain beyond reach at current rates of progress, the researchers warned.

"If the world is going to achieve these (MDG) goals, we need to see immediate, concerted action on the part of governments, donors and bilateral agencies," said Rafal Loranzo, a professor at IHME and lead author of the study.

Millennium Development Goals will not be met

Source: Onmedica
Ingrid Torjesen
Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Only nine of 137 developing countries are expected to achieve ambitious targets to improve the health of women and children, according to an analysis of progress on the fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) published in The Lancet.

The targets set by world leaders in 2000 aim to reduce the death rate for children aged under five by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 (MDG 4), and deaths among pregnant women and new mothers by three-quarters during the same timescale (MDG 5).

An analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington predicts that 31 developing countries will achieve MDG 4 and 13 will achieve MDG 5. Nine countries are expected to achieve both goals: China, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Mongolia, Peru, Syria, and Tunisia.
Dr Rafael Lozano, Professor of Global Health at IHME said: “If the world is going to achieve these goals, we need to see immediate, concerted action on the part of governments, donors, and bilateral agencies to move these trends in the right direction. We know that accelerated progress is possible because we are seeing it already.”

In 125 countries, maternal mortality has declined faster since 2000, the year that countries signed the Millennium Declaration, and the progress has been particularly strong in the past five years. Over the same period, in 106 countries, child mortality rates have declined faster between 2000 and 2011 than in the previous decade.

The number of deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth decreased from 409,100 in 1990 to an estimated 273,500 deaths in 2011, and the number of deaths in children under the age of 5 fell from 11.6 million deaths to an estimated 7.2 million over the same period.

RI may miss MDGs targets due to corruption, budget problems

Source: The Jakarta Post
Elly Burhaini Faizal, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 09/20/2011

Indonesia will likely fail to achieve the standards defined by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 due to corruption, poor management and budget problems at the regional level, according to activists.

Wahyu Susilo, coordinator of the Civil Society Network for MDG Achievement, said here on Monday that the problems would hinder the nation’s efforts to advance human development, as they affected sectors important for poverty reduction, such as health and education.

“An increasing number of budget corruption cases in sectors related to poverty eradication — as shown by the central government’s and regional administrations’ budgeting processes — show the real picture of the country’s poor commitment to meeting its MDGs targets,” he said in a MDG progress report.

Many regional administrations have made slow progress in human development, allocating their budgets mainly for direct expenditures, mostly for infrastructure, as indicated in reports compiled by the network for eight areas: Central Java, East Nusa Tenggara, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, West Sulawesi and West Sumatra.

The government has said that Indonesia needed to focus on only two issues: reducing the maternal mortality rate and on environmental issues.

However, according to a recent study published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Indonesia might achieve only three of 10 MDG targets: improved free and compulsory basic education; an increased number of qualified health workers, especially for childbirths; and a reduction in the number people living on US$1.25 or less per day.

Wahyu said the country had a poor track record in other areas, such as poverty alleviation, secondary education, reducing the infant and maternal mortality rates, as well as tackling malaria, which afflicts 1,645 of every 100,000 Indonesians.

Few improvements have been recorded on expanding people’s access to clean water and sanitation, Wahyu said.

“If we have no specific strategies to tackle this problem, we may miss our MDGs targets,” he added.

During the discussion, activists expressed concern about the poor awareness of the need for good governance while working to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

In Kubu Raya regency, West Kalimantan, for example, the local administration allocated a large part of its budget for direct spending on infrastructure, instead of using it to provide residents increased access to education and healthcare.

“Few resources have been properly allocated to fight illiteracy among residents,” Gustiar, an activist from JARI West Borneo, said.

Gustiar said that 23,803 of Kubu Raya regency’s 517,120 residents, were illiterate. Most were women.

“It’s alarming,” he said.

However, the regency’s health agency has not allocated sufficient funds to recruit more professional medical workers to improve the quality of healthcare provided by community health centers (puskesmas).

Yanti Muchtar of Kapal Perempuan said budgeting in Indonesia was not woman-friendly, despite that most issues covered by the MDGs related to women, such as maternal and infant mortality, access to clean water and sanitation.

Indonesia has the world’s fifth largest population of illiterate people. About two-thirds of the nation’s illiterate are women. However, the government allocates less than 1 percent of its total budget to combat illiteracy.

Millennium Development Goals on health 'will not be met'

By Jane Dreaper Health correspondent, BBC News

Researchers say just nine of 137 developing countries will achieve ambitious targets to improve the health of women and children.

The analysis in The Lancet updates previous estimates of progress on the fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The experts predict that no country in sub-Saharan Africa will meet the goals to dramatically reduce deaths by 2015.

But they say progress is speeding up in most countries.

The targets were set by world leaders in 2000. MDG4 aims to reduce the death rate for children aged under five by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.

MDG5 states an ambition to cut deaths among pregnant women and new mothers by three-quarters during the same timescale.

“Even with major accelerated efforts, most countries are unlikely to achieve both targets”

        Report authors Washington University, Seattle

 

The researchers from Seattle estimate there were 7.2m infant deaths around the world in the past year - compared with 11.6m in 1990.

China, Rwanda and Botswana were praised for "substantial acceleration" in tackling child mortality in the past decade.

Intervention strategies
There were 273,500 maternal deaths, of which 56,100 were related to HIV.

In 1990, an estimated 409,100 women died during pregnancy or childbirth.

The highest level of maternal death is seen in Eritrea, Liberia and Afghanistan. The lowest is in Iceland and Austria.

Countries making slower progress on the infant death target include Nigeria and Ethiopia.
The authors said 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa were unlikely at the present pace to achieve MDG4 before 2040.

"Many aspects of health systems limit the scale-up of child and maternal interventions," they said.

“Numerical assessments of the MDGs are inevitably plagued by poor and missing data”

         Peter Byass and Wendy Graham The Lancet

 

"Nevertheless, some intervention strategies can be delivered without a health system that has the capacity for referral and emergency management. 

"These include vaccination, distributing insecticide-treated bed nets, vitamin A supplementation and deworming."

They praised India for "promising and substantial" progress in reducing maternal mortality during the past five years.

The authors concluded: "The MDG targets have helped rally donors to recognise the urgent need for further investment.

"Even with major accelerated efforts, most countries are unlikely to achieve both targets.
"Although some might see this as a failure of global health action, it is perhaps more important to keep track of whether the pace of progress for children and mothers has improved."

A year ago, governments around the world pledged £25bn to reinvigorate efforts on both targets.
But the Lancet paper says the potential for delivering the aid is "unclear", because aid money for health has been growing at a slower pace in recent years.

Midwife training The authors acknowledge estimating the death rates is contentious, and that their work has triggered a "vigorous academic debate on measurement strategies".

In an accompanying comment, global health experts Peter Byass and Wendy Graham said: "Numerical assessments against the MDGs are inevitably processes that are plagued by poor and missing data.
"It is self-evident that the greatest numbers of avoidable deaths happen in some of the world's largest countries."

A report by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) - also released on Tuesday - says some of the world's poorest countries have pledged £7bn of their own resources to try to reduce the death rates.

Bangladesh has committed to train 3,000 midwives by 2015, while Congo has promised to provide free obstetric care, including Caesarean sections.

UN: Step up efforts to attain MDG targets by 2015

Source: The Chronicle
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
By:  Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Kimoon has urged developing nations to step up efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets by the 2015 deadline.

He observed that unlocking the potential of agriculture and the rural sector is a key to advancement in low-income countries, and all developing countries need to explore new ways to ensure sustainable growth and manage environmental conditions.

Mr. Ban Kimoon made this known at the launch of the UN’s MDG Gap Task Force report in New York, USA, over the weekend. The Secretary-General called for increased coverage by social insurance programmes, application of a human rights and gender equality framework and good governance.
The report further sites that macroeconomic policies need to support job creation as well as economic growth “accelerating progress towards the MDGs”.

On affordable access to medicines, the report stated that essential medicines are available in only 42 per cent of public sector facilities in developing countries, and countries such as India have stepped in by producing low-cost generic drugs.

According to the UN report, “The case of India illustrates how intellectual property policy can be used to increase access to affordable HIV medicines in developing countries. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is highly export-oriented and, by utilizing the transition period, became a major supplier of generic medicine and low-cost anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to developing countries.”

The report was written by the UN Secretary-General’s MDG Gap Task Force, which brought together more than 20 UN agencies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

At the Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders pledged to “create an environment at the national and global levels conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty.” At an MDG Summit in September 2010, world leaders re-committed to strengthening the global partnership to “keep the promises.” With only four more years until the target year, the report told world leaders that it is “time to deliver.”

The report argued that due to economic difficulties since the 2008 financial meltdown, many developing countries need to channel an additional 1.5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Although support from donors has seen an increase since the inauguration of the MDGs in the year 2000, it is falling short of agreed targets according to the UN report which “challenges the international community and other stakeholders to intensify their efforts to realize the potential of the global partnership for development.”

The report indicated that official development assistance (ODA) from traditional donors has more than doubled since 2000, reaching a record $129 billion in 2010. But the 2010 total still falls $21 billion short of commitments made in 2005, at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, and is less than half of the total needed to fulfill the longstanding target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income of traditional donors.  Consequently, increased commitments from traditional donors are urgently required, the report indicated.

Agreements at the 2011 UN conference on the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) held in Istanbul, Turkey, to step up market-opening and capacity-building measures offer one hopeful alternative to rapid advancement through trade, a traditional means by which nations lift themselves out of poverty especially in light of the lack of substantial improvements in market access of LDC exports since 2004.

The UN report also warned against trade protectionism in response to slow economic growth, as a self defeating measure that would also penalize poor countries.

Removal of the burden of unsustainable debt from many poor countries is another area in which the international environment has improved since 2000. But recent financial turmoil has caused some backsliding. 19 developing countries are sited as being in debt distress or at high risk, including eight that earlier benefited from debt relief.

MDG 8, covering the international partnership, aims to create an enabling environment for poverty eradication through a fair and open trading system, substantial increase in development assistance, poor-country debt relief and improved terms of access of the developing world to medicines and technology. (Goals 1 – 7 target hunger, extreme poverty, disease, environmental degradation and obstacles to the advancement of women and to achieving universal primary education).

Survey on women and child affairs in progress

Survey on women and child affairs in progress
Oman Daily Observer
Sun, 18 September 2011

By Maryam Khalfan - MUSCAT — A Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) that is aimed at designing a survey on implementation of national and global commitments related to women and child issues was opened at the City Seasons Hotel yesterday. Dr AbdulMalik bin Abdullah al Hinai, Adviser, Directorate-General of Social Statistics, presided at the launch of the five-day workshop which has captivated the participation of officials from the GCC and other Arab states.

The MICS, the fourth of its kind, will explore the importance of monitoring progress towards the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), World Fit For Children (WFFC) and others. The discussions will also focus on the importance and aspects related to reporting on development needs on the global, regional and country levels among other topics of concern.

In his remarks on the occasion, Al Hinai stressed on the importance of this seminar, which particularly indicates the intensity at which statistics has progressed in the Sultanate. “The fact that we have participants from different countries from the region and the participation of experts from the United Nations and the Unicef is an indication of the significance of statistics as a vital tool on development. I am sure that, by the end of the workshop, participants will attain a lot of knowledge for them to practise and implement it in different ministries and organisations they represent. I urge the participants to grasp and benefit from the resourceful information and experiences of other experts”, he said.

Dr Pierre Ngom, Regional Chief of Monitoring and Evaluation, Unicef, Regional Office, Jordan, highlighted the importance of the information age – an indication that reflects on the strong actions, policies and programmes based on quality information, which depends on good data. “Unicef is supporting countries all over the world to collect good data on children and women through the MICS programme. This programme has established technical manuals and expertise to support the programme”, affirmed the official.

In this context, the MICS will play a significant role in aiding the progress of the MDGs especially in aspects related to women and child affairs, which are one of Unicef’s major areas of focus, said Dr Pierre. Dr Leila Lad, Unicef Representative to the Sultanate, said: “The purpose of this workshop is to provide technical support to countries in designing the MICS based on the respective country’s needs. The MICS identifies diverse country frames and modules that have been agreed upon.

“The workshop is being held with the support and expertise provided by the Regional Office of the Unicef, Middle East and North Africa Region as well as the support of the United Nations headquarters. It is indeed, the team effort that brings together entities between the Unicef and a number of countries that will be implementing the MICS. This MICS is significantly important because it provides timely and accurate data on the situation of women and children. It is used as a guidance tool and for informed decision making as well as for monitoring the progress of women and children in diverse affairs”, she said.

“We are indeed grateful for the support of the Government of Oman for hosting this event and for its initiative to lobby for implementation of the MISC progress in 2010” she said. Khalifa bin Abdullah al Barwani, Director-General, Social Statistics, said: In essence of the MICS related to child and women affairs, “we are planning to design and structure the survey with questionnaires, which will be used in the study. The survey will benefit the community in different social indicators such as the health, education, labour and the housing among other social indicators”.

Besides, the outcome of the survey will help and guide planners on the most appropriate approach to mend the gap of survey especially in issues related to women and children. The results of this technical survey will be utilised by the countries of the region to monitor their progress towards national objectives and global commitments including the MDGs, which is targeted to be achieved by 2015, noted Al Barwani.

Migrants Tell Of Slavery At Sea On Thai Fishing Boats

Migrants Tell Of Slavery At Sea On Thai Fishing Boats

Rayong, Thailand, Sept 17, 2011 (AFP) -Thousands of men from Myanmar and Cambodia set sail on Thai fishing boats every day, but many are unwilling seafarers -- slaves forced to work in brutal conditions under threat of death.

The day Hla Myint saw the sea for the first time was when traffickers delivered him, after a week's trek through the jungle from Myanmar, to a ship on Thailand's coast.

He said it was the beginning of seven months of "hell", during which there were beatings "every day, every hour".

His is one of a multitude of stories of slavery in Thailand's multi-million dollar fishing industry, which campaigners say relies on forced labour to provide seafood for restaurants and supermarkets around the world.

Hla Myint decided to escape -- throwing himself into choppy waters and clinging to a life buoy for five hours before reaching land -- after seeing his captain kill a crewmate.

The man, who had been caught trying to escape, was savagely beaten and tortured in front of the rest of the fishermen.

"Later they took him to the back of the ship, stood him on the edge and shot him in the head. My heart pounded so hard when I saw that," said Hla Myint, whose name AFP has changed to protect his identity.

Now he works with a local aid group helping others to flee.

He told his story to AFP during a dash to rescue four young Myanmar men hiding in bushes near the coastal town of Rayong, just hours after they broke out of a locked room and ran for their lives.

"They threatened that if we tried to run away, one bullet cost only 25 baht ($0.83)," said Myo Oo, 20, whose name has also been changed.

Another member of the group, a teenager clearly still petrified, described beatings with the butt of a gun.

The UN recently acknowledged Thailand's "significant progress" in efforts to tackle trafficking, but said it needed to go further and warned that trafficking of forced labour in the fishing industry was "growing in scale".

Sirirat Ayuwathana of Thailand's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, which is in charge of tackling trafficking in the country, said authorities were aware of the problem and planned to set up a commission to work on registering all fishing boats and crew members.

"We cannot know what happens when the boats leave the shore. The workers could be tortured or detained. The captains have total control of the boat, and they may mistreat these people," she said.

Life on the boats is incredibly hard. Men toil for up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, only able to snatch a few moments for food and rest between hauling nets, according to a report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Some boats use "mother ships" to refuel and take on new crew to avoid returning to land and many fishermen spend months or even years trapped in waters as far away as Somalia, the IOM said.

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch, who wrote the report, said marine police in one Thai coastal area told him they found up to 10 bodies a month washed up on the shore.

In a 2009 study, more than half of Cambodian migrants trafficked onto Thai boats surveyed by the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) said they had seen their captains killing one of their colleagues.

But Mana Sripitak, of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand, said it was "impossible" that forced labour was used, saying migrants were willing workers.

The Thai fishing industry is a lucrative business. According to official figures, 16.95 billion baht ($565 million) worth of fish was hauled into Thailand from the sea in 2010.

China, the European Union, the United States and Japan were among the major export destinations.

There are 35,000 migrants officially registered as working on the boats, mostly from Myanmar, also known as Burma, and Cambodia. But campaigners say poor working conditions put off Thai seafarers, so captains use trafficking victims to restock their crews.

Robertson said thousands of people had been trafficked onto boats over the last decade.

"This has been essentially a lawless industry for years and within that the system of brokers and trafficking has grown up as the defacto model for a fishing boat captain... They know who to call," he said.

He urged governments and consumers to boycott wild-caught fish from Thailand unless the industry reforms.

The US State Department has placed Thailand on a trafficking in persons "watchlist" for two years running.

It estimates there are tens of thousands of people caught in a web of trafficking across the country -- in various types of forced labour and sexual exploitation.

On a recent visit to Thailand UN special rapporteur on people trafficking, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, said the country was not doing enough to curb the trade.

"The immunity of traffickers, especially the collusion with the official law enforcement agencies, is really diluting the government's effort and efficacy of its policies and programmes to combat human trafficking," she told AFP.

Andy Hall, a migration expert at Mahidol University, said Thailand should take responsibility for staunching the flow of trafficked labour.

"Without these people the fish don't get caught, the products don't get made. They are lost in a globalisation process, they are lost in an industrialisation process, it's really scary," he said.

Myo Oo paid a broker 1,000 baht ($33) to take him into Thailand, hoping to find factory work for himself and his 16-year-old brother in Bangkok, where his two sisters already live.

After five days in the jungle, the brothers were crammed into a truck and driven to Rayong, where they were separated. Barely more than a boy himself, Myo Oo fears for his teenage brother and is doubtful of his chances in trying to flee the boats.

He said they knew they would face challenges in Thailand, "but in reality it is much more difficult. I never expected I would have to be so worried about my life".

But he was reluctant to be identified by Thai authorities, who would inevitably deport him, and determined to try again to find work.

Once in Bangkok, Myo Oo and the others slipped away, carrying little but the clothes on their backs and hope for a better life.

Donor support for poverty cut falling: UN report

Donor support for poverty cut falling: UN report
Source:the Nation
Published: September 17, 2011
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

UNITED NATIONS - Donors need to intensify their support to help countries achieve the globally agreed goals of slashing hunger, poverty, disease and a host of other social ills by the target date of 2015, according to a new UN report.

The annual report prepared by the UN’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Gap Task Force says that support has risen sharply since the targets were set in 2000, with donor countries having provided a record-high $129 billion in official development assistance (ODA) last year.

“Yet the international community has yet to meet the targets we have assigned ourselves,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the launch of the report at UN Headquarters.

“There is a troubling distance between what we have promised and what we are actually doing to support the global partnership for development. And that gap is expected to widen,” he stated.

Ban created the Task Force in 2007 to track global commitments on aid, trade and debt, and to follow progress on access to essential medicines and technology. With the 2015 deadline looming, he called for accelerated efforts towards the Goals.

“Certainly the global economic outlook remains sobering,” he said. “But this cannot be an excuse not to deliver. We cannot afford to leave the poor even further behind.” 

Trade is a traditional means by which nations lift themselves out of poverty, the report notes. A deadlock in trade talks has frustrated opportunities for rapid advancement.

The report also warns against trade protectionism in response to slow economic growth.

, noting that it is a self-defeating measure that would also penalize poor countries. In addition, the recent financial turmoil has caused some backsliding with regard to the removal of the debt burden from many poor countries.

“This report shows us the formidable challenges still ahead in our work towards the MDGs,” Ban said. “Some may see it as a bleak assessment. I take a more hopeful view. The global campaign for the MDGs has achieved remarkable progress in a short time – more effective disease control, more children in school, new technologies bringing new solutions.

“There is also a growing awareness that relieving the world’s most vulnerable people of the needless burdens of poverty, hunger and disease is not just a moral obligation – it is also a smart investment in our shared future,” he added.

“With effort and solidarity, we can close the gaps identified in this new report.”

The MDG Gap Task Force brings together more than 20 UN agencies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
(ENDS)/ia