Global Perspectives on the ICC and Sudan

First published on the Euforic Blog

The cover story of the latest issue of the magazine ‘Global Perspectives‘ sheds light on discussions around the International Criminal Court’s warrant to arrest Sudan’s President al-Bashir.

The president is accused of masterminding mass murder and crimes against humanity in the crisis region of Darfur. Since Sudan is not a member of the ICC treaty, the case was brought to the Court by the UN Security Council.

The controversial arrest warrant, while supported by the international human rights community, caused wide criticism in developing countries as well as among experts on Sudan. According to them, the Sudanese President is the only one holding the fragile peace process in Sudan especially in the Southern provinces together. His arrest would therefore destabilize a country that plans to hold elections in February 2010.

The African Union is going to investigate the case itself before it wants to take a position. Nonetheless, some of the 30 African signatories to the ICC charter have threatened to withdraw their membership if the al-Bashir Case is not withdrawn. They accuse the ICC of only investigating crimes in weaker countries while shying away from crimes committed by Western powers. In fact, all 13 warrants issued by the ICC deal with crimes in Africa. All but the Sudan case were referred to the ICC by African countries themselves.

The Sudanese government reacted by expelling humanitarian organisations from the country, accusing them of espionage. According to the UN, this will leave 1.1 million people, especially in the western region of Dafur, without food, 1.5 million without health care and more than a million without drinking water.

The issue also has an article on the Palestine Conflict. Baher Kamal argues that even if the Palestine State would be founded according to US and European wishes, it would cause new conflicts since their idea of Palestine is what the author calls a ‘Cheese State’. The holes comprise Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well as other pieces of the West Bank and Gaza seenby Israel as necessary to its security, including water resources and fertile land.

Referring to the state security doctrines of some Arab countries and Israel, which depend on foreign enemies to ensure internal coherence, Baher Kamal doubts a fast solution of the conflict.

Global Perspectives is a bi-lingual (English/German) joint production by IPS Inter Press Service Europe and the Global Cooperation Council, published by Globalom Media. The monthly editions on various themes of international cooperation and development are dowloadable for free.

See also the Euforic newsfeed on IPS Europe.

 

Global Perspectives on what 2009 will bring us

First published on the Euforic Blog

The first issue of the magazine ‘Global Perspectives‘ in 2009 reviews thepast year and looks at the challenges ahead.

Jeffrey Laurenti (Century Foundation) shows us his personal collection of good and bad events for world development in 2008, while philosopher Daisaku Ikeda reflects on 60 years of the International Declaration of Human Rights which was celebrated in December.

Assessing the achievements of last year but also looking at the challenges ahead, several articles deal with the international talks on climate change. Besides some insights from the Poznan Summit they look at the prospects for the upcoming conference in Copenhaagen.

A report by the Global Perspective Monitoring Unit shows the outlook for poverty alleviation in 2009. According to a World Bank Report, rapid growth will allow developing countries as a group to reach the MDG goal to halve poverty by 2015, despite the current financial crisis. However the Sub-Saharan African Region is predicted, notwithstanding gradual progress, to not to reach the target.

Global Perspectives is a bi-lingual (English/German) publication by IPS Europe. It releases monthly editions on various themes of international cooperation and development and is dowloadable for free.

See also the Euforic newsfeed on IPS Europe.2

 

Global Perspectives on what the financial crisis means for the poor

First published on the Euforic Blog

The December 2008 issue of the magazine ‘Global Perspectives‘ looks at the consequences of the global financial crisis for the poor.

Prof Zhang Zhongxiang’s analysis shows three main effects of the financial crisis in Africa. Obviously, the crisis will have a negative effect on the direct foreign investment rate in African countries. Secondly, Prof. Zhang expects a decrease in raw material exports and low revenue in the tourism sector. Last but not least the remittances from the African diaspora, sometimes as important in quantity as donor development assistance, will be lower.

Nonetheless the author points at the positive action of the African Regional Blocks and the African Union to deal with the financial crisis which would lead to deeper regional integration and, by consequence, strengthen Africa’s economic position in the world.

This issue of the magazine contains also several articles that give regional perspectives on the finanical crisis from Asian and African countries.

Another report deals with the impact of the crisis on big NGOs. A mixed picture is presented with more dramatic losses in fundraising by the US NGO sector and a so far unpredictable situation in Europe.

Furthermore in this issue an editorial by Ramesh Jaura who sheds a critical light on the involvement of the European Investment Bank in Africa.

An essay by Daisaku Ikeda (Soka Gakkai International) pleading for a stronger role of the world youth in the UN institutional framework.

Global Perspectives is a bi-lingual (English/German) publication by IPS Europe. It releases monthly editions on various themes of international cooperation and development and is dowloadable for free.

See also the Euforic newsfeed on IPS Europe.

by Martin Behrens2

 

German experts call for a different development policy towards Africa

First published on the Euforic Blog

In a concise appeal (in German), senior experts of German developmentcooperation have called for a revision of German development policy towards Africa.

They criticize the belief that the West could develop Africa. The fact that development workers take on too much power would paralyze self-initiative and African ownership. Furthermore they criticize the assumption that redistribution of wealth via increased aid would improve the situation. According to the critics, more money tends to have inverse effects and if distributed via budget aid would additionally increase corruption and bad governance.

The authors call for:

• Decentralization of German aid to country embassies and the liquidation of the current multiple aid structure with various government agencies responsible for development cooperation
• Strong orientation towards non-state actors
• Concentration on education, micro-finance and work-intensive infrastructure improvements

The appeal, which was signed by former German ambassadors, high-ranking politicians and scientists, provoked harsh criticism (in German) by Germany’s development community. They accuse the critics of painting a cut and dried picture of a rather complex environment that ignores the importance of good governance and the role of the state as well as international trade structures.

Willing to kick-off a comprehensive discussion on German aid, the authors of the appeal agreed to further elaborate responses on the criticized issues in a second paper.

See the Euforic newsfeed on German Development Cooperation