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Nordic Development Cooperation in and with Afghanistan

A report entitled Strengthening Nordic Development Cooperation in and with Afghanistan has just been released by Norad. Authored by Petter Bauck (Norad) and Arne Strand (Chr. Michelsen Institute), the report is based on extensive interviews with Nordic, Afghan and international actors in Kabul, discussions in the five Nordic capitals and documentation provided by the respective Nordic countries.

The report indicates that all those interviewed were positive regarding closer  development cooperation between the Nordic countries in Afghanistan. It also points out the challenges associated with making such cooperation a reality.  

Each Nordic country’s engagement is structured differently, the breadth of support and the number of people engaged also varies greatly, geographic focus and thematic focus are also different for each Nordic country, as is the choice of channel used.

Interview with Justin Lin, World Bank Chief Economist

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Per-Ivar Nikolaisen of Bistandsaktelt interviews Justin Lin on the the World Bank's response to the current financial crisis, the role of China in the mitigation of the crisis and Lin's personal experience as the first non-European chief economist of the World Bank.  The interview took place at Litteraturhuset in Oslo on January 12, 2009.

Climate change: what’s all the fuss about?

 

(Photo credit: G.M.B. Akash)

Alex Kirby, of Panos London provides a good introduction to the issue of climate change.  He looks at the causes of climate change, the likely effects, and various mitigation strategies.  

According to Kirby,  "a serious response to the threat of climate change will need policy choices by and between governments, on both mitigation and adaptation. Preventing climate change is impossible, because the amount of long-lasting greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere means it would continue warming for 30 years or more even if emissions stopped overnight."

Click here to read the full article.

Norway provides humanitarian relief to Gaza

Norway is providing NOK 30 million in immediate humanitarian relief in connection with the assaults in Gaza.

“We are extremely concerned about the precarious humanitarian situation in Gaza,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Governments sign worldwide ban on cluster bombs in Oslo

Jan Speed and Amila de Saram Larssen

Click below to view a short video about The Ban Bus, a campaign bus that has traveled 10,000 km across Europe to raise awareness about the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  It arrived in Oslo yesterday.

The Reality of Aid 2008 report launched in Oslo

(From left to right: Stiaan van der Merwe, Beverly Keene and John Jones)

 

Amila de Saram Larssen

 

The Reality of Aid 2008 Report was presented in Oslo this morning as part of the annual RORG conference 2008.  The report is critical of current development policies and presents the issue of aid effectiveness from a civil society perspective.  

 

The introduction to the report states that, "the reality of aid in 2008 is that it continues to fail to promote human development for the eradication of poverty based on the core values of human rights, democracy, gender equality and environmental sustainability."

 

6 steps to revamp global finance system

In a recent press release, South Centre, a Geneva-based intergovernmental organization comprised of developing countries, calls for the urgent revamping of the global financial system. 

6 action points are laid out to achieve this objective. These include the need for an inclusive process and institutional redesign, a correction of the regulatory deficit of global finance, the revamping of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the adoption of a coordinated global macroeconomic policy package, the creation of an international debt court, and the need for the system to rely more broadly on regional institutions, and for developing countries to actively cooperate in the creation of these institutions.

Rights, Forests and Climate Change Agenda

Amila de Saram Larssen

A 3-day conference opened in Oslo today on the topic of Rights, Forests and Climate change.  This is an important event as it provides a opportunity for the rights community to exchange ideas with the climate change community on proposed climate change initiatives.

The conference, jointly organized by The Rights and Resources Initiative and the Rainforest Foundation Norway, provides an opportunity to assess the present status of tenure, civil and political rights of forest communities at the local, national and international levels vis a vis climate change initiatives. 

The goal of the conference is to identify measures governments, donors and technical institutions can take to ensure that forest communities adapt to climate change and are involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of climate change interventions.

For live conference updates, presentations and interviews with participants, check out the conference blog.

Filmmaker Philippe Diaz blames the rich for the problems of the poor

Amila de Saram Larssen

In his documentary, "The End of poverty?", Diaz tackles the question of why poverty exists in a world that is filled with so much wealth.

According to Diaz, developed nations are plundering the resources of the planet at a rate that is unsustainable, causing greater and greater poverty.

The End of Poverty? is being screened in Oslo as part of International Week.

Click below to listen to Diaz being interviewed by Jan Speed, editor of bistandsaktuelt.no.

Urbanization not on agenda of international development agencies

Amila de Saram Larssen

Joel Bolnick, a founder and current coordinator of Slum Dwellers International (SDI), an international NGO that manages networks of slum dwellers mainly in the South, presented the work of his organization at an event held at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo yesterday to commemorate Habitat Day.  The seminar was entitled, "The Cities of Tomorrow."

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than in rural areas. One in every three city

dwellers, more than a billion people, is a slum dweller.