The Global Leaders will fix the fate of our planet in next month at Copenhagen! Now the time is to call them to realise the impacts of climate changes and to formulate effective strategy to save the world. If they fail to realise it, the planet and human civilisation will be destroyed! So, remind them again and again for formulate policy to save the world and call them `Climate First! Act Now'! SIGN THE PETITION and join in the campaign.

International Rural Women Day 2009

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

–

MESSAGE ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF RURAL WOMEN

15 October 2009

 

Today, on the second commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women, we recognize the important contributions of rural women, including indigenous women, to sustainable development and the sound management of natural resources.

We highlight these accomplishments in a year that also marks the 30 Sadly, rural women in many parts of the world continue to face severe deprivation in enjoying these rights. They are among those hit hardest by the inadequate rate of progress in improving maternal health. They have limited access to live-saving resources such as drinking water, electricity and roads. Too many rural women and girls are not in school. And they lack equitable access to decision-making processes, meaning that their voices are not heard.

As the global economic crisis continues to unfold, let us commit to increasing investments in the resources, infrastructure and services which would ease rural women’s workloads and release their time and energy for engagement in the labour market and public life.

As we near the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December, let us make sure that rural women are part of the process and that the outcome addresses their contributions, priorities and needs.

And as the United Nations itself seeks to strengthen its work to empower women around the world, let us move swiftly to get the new, single gender equality entity agreed by the General Assembly up and running.

On this International Day, let us pledge to do our utmost to put the rights, needs and aspirations of rural women much higher on the global agenda.

 

th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is the only international human rights treaty that specifically addresses the rights of rural women. The Convention calls on all States parties to ensure that women fully participate in rural development; have access to health care, social security programmes, training, education, credit and loans; and benefit equally from infrastructure investments such as sanitation, water, transport and communications.

Rural women deprived of their rights
Staff Correspondent, The Daily New Age, 16 October 2009 

15 October 2009, Dhaka: The International Rural Women Day was observed on Thursday in Bangladesh as well as in the world, and the rural women were exhorted to ‘Claim Your Rights to Health and Wellbeing.’    This day has been observed around the world since 2007 when the United Nations declared October 15 as the day dedicated to women of the villages and rural areas.   Various organisations arranged programmes to mark the day.
   

The National Observation Committee of the International Rural Women Day organised a seminar on ‘National Health Policy 2009, Health Rights and Rural Women’ in the National Press Club.    Health experts and labour leaders, while addressing the seminar’s audience, said that the draft national health policy had encouraged commercialization of the health sector instead of ensuring health services to everyone.
   Rashid E Mahbub, former president of the Bangladesh Medical Association, said the proposed health policy was not formulated with the mass people’s right to health in mind. The rural women continue to be deprived from healthcare facilities, he said.
   He said that women’s health depends not only on medical treatment but also on proper sanitation and sufficient nutrition, so the government should address these issues properly in the health policy.
   The National Day Observation Committee of IRWD’s member, Atikul Islam Chudhury, and secretary, Mostafa Kamal Akand, said in their keynote paper that it has not been spelled out in the proposed health policy how private health organisations would be controlled.
   They suggested decentralisation of the health management system and allocation of funds in accordance with population and need.
   

In Muktangon state minister for labour and employment Begum Munnujan Sufian, while addressing a rally organised by Karmojibi Nari on Thursday, said the government would change parts of the existing labour law to ensure the rights of rural women.
   ‘The government has formed a committee to remove the loopholes in the existing labour law passed in 2006 to ensure the rights of all communities. The government is committed to protect the rights of rural women as they are playing a pivotal role in building the nation,’ said the state minister.  She also stressed the need for reviewing the agriculture labour law passed in 1984 to boost the agriculture sector.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s president Hasanul Haq Inu said that rural women were playing a significant role in developing the nation but they were being deprived of all the rights.

Global Climate Change Debate: Where we are?

About 17 percent of the Bangladesh’s land and 13 percent of agricultural activities would be affected if there is one metre sea-level rise. So, Bangladesh must have a national consensus regarding its stance for negotiation in Copenhagen. It should be discussed and debated in parliament.

Bangladesh as a most vulnerable country (MVC) of climate change  wants a fair and safe deal in Copenhagen, particularly for billions of poor and vulnerable people whose governments cannot afford to pay to fix the problem. The rich countries should pay attention to the lives in billions of people rather gaining financial benefit. 

In December of this year, the UN conference of parties (COP) is going to conduct its 15th conference to set a long term goals to tackle down climate change. Environmental activists are spending busy time to prepare the draft outline of COP-15. But would we win the diplomacy of rich countries? We should learn from the ongoing debate to take control on negotiations of climate talks.

The Natural Fix? The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Mitigation, a study of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stated that expanding the capacity of natural areas for capturing and storing carbon is one of the keys to curbing climate change, and would be a relatively low-cost solution that would also improve the quality of life of millions of farmers. More attention must be paid to natural carbon absorption, along with cutting greenhouse gases caused by humans. The report called for the adoption of a “comprehensive policy framework” on management of carbon – the main greenhouse gas – which would include the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and the management of grasslands and agricultural areas.

But the global environmental watchdog Greenpeace says the natural capacity of ecosystems to capture carbon is not a priority in the negotiations among governments ahead of the December UN Climate Convention Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. María José Cárdenas, head of the Greenpeace Mexico climate and energy campaign said, “If no progress has been made in setting timeframes for emissions cuts by developed countries, even less progress has been made in the case of carbon management”.  The aim of the Denmark meeting is to sign a new international climate change agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, in effect since 2005, the 37 industrialised countries committed themselves to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by five percent on average, from 1990 levels, by target dates ranging from 2008 to 2012. Some of the countries, like Canada, have already admitted that they will not reach the target. The United States, which is responsible for one-quarter of global greenhouse gases, is not a party to the Kyoto Protocol, on the decision of former president George W. Bush (2001-2009). His successor President Barack Obama has pledged to sign the new agreement that is to emerge from the Denmark conference, and said his country would assume clear commitments on air pollution. But his administration has not referred to the need for new agreements to enhance natural carbon sequestration.

Greenpeace activist Cárdenas also said, “There is talk about a renewed interest in negotiating emissions reduction commitments, but in practice the crisis is being used to maintain the consumerist system that has generated the climate change problems we are suffering today,”

In May 2009,  Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States, as well as the European Union (EU) gathered together at a meeting named Major Economies Forum (MEF) where the ministers of these big economies were heard that 80 percent of the globe’s greenhouse gases and `world’s destiny’ may lie in the outcome of the mooted climate change pact. The French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, opening the gathering of the so-called Major Economies Forum (MEF), pointed to the aim of forging a planet-wide treaty in Copenhagen in December under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He briefed in his addressing, “The world’s destiny will probably be at stake in Copenhagen. Copenhagen is not a retrograde vision, it’s not the start of negative growth, but a new start for strong, sustainable, sober carbon development”.

The state minister for Environment and Forest Mostafizur Rahman said at conference organised by organised by Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood (CSRL) in July 2009 the developed countries, which are mostly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, should come forward to ensure the survival of vulnerable countries like Bangladesh by providing due compensations. He also demand, “We do hope that the Annex-1 countries would unconditionally contribute to our national fund as compensation and support the process of managing it [fund] through our national mechanisms determined by us,”.

In the same conference, Bangladesh with other MVCs demanded the developed countries to reduce their emission by 45 percent in aggregate against 1990 levels by 2020 and make available fund of $150 billion a year to help protect the victims. They also demanded that annex 1 Parties (developed nations) must reduce their emission by at least 45 percent in aggregate against 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The MVCs also urged  all Parties to the UNFCCC to ensure that an agreement is reached at COP15 to ensure survival of billions of people of the globe.  

‘I came here with deep concerns of our people, who no sooner had tasted democracy than confronted with critical, dire impacts of climate change,’ addressing the World Climate Conference-3 on September 2009  at Geneva International Conference Centre, the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, sought technological and financial supports from the international community, particularly resourceful developed countries, to combat the challenges of climate change as Bangladesh is considered one of the worst sufferers for the climatic disorders for no fault of its own.

She said, `A one-metre rise of sea level would inundate a third of Bangladesh, and this would result in mass migration northwards, imposing increasing pressure on land and resources and loss livelihood of about 40 million people. There is no doubt that human-induced climate change is, to a large extent, responsible for these phenomena and, ironically, the people of Bangladesh are least to be blamed for them.’

 

 For more:  please read 

She also pointed out, ‘the challenge to Bangladesh in facing natural disasters from global warming and climate change is monumental,’ she told the global meet on the most worrying problem that threatens the planet as a whole.

Apply Now!

 

iCats Fellowship, Deadline: 26 October 2009

Each year, LGT Venture Philanthropy selects a restricted number of applicants for fellow positions for its Fellowship Program. Fellows differ from all other positions in several aspects: They receive a more intense training before the assignment, regular mentoring support throughout their stay with the organization and are enrolled in a regular reporting process. Whereas all other positions are posted continuously throughout the year and have individual application deadlines, fellow positions are posted once a year for all philanthropic organizations/social enterprises and have the same application deadline (Oct 26, 2009). All fellows start their assignment in February for a duration of 11 months.

For more: icats programme

ADB grants $744m for meltdown fallout

Asian Development Bank board yesterday approved $744 million loan for Bangladesh so that the country can face the world economic recession fallout.

“ADB is extending the loans to help Bangladesh government overcome the impact of the global economic crisis and implement public policy reforms,” said an ADB press release yesterday.

The support includes a $500 million loan under the counter-cyclical support facility (CSF) and three loans totalling $244 million under the public expenditure support facility (PESF).

The ADB press release said the $500 million CSF loan would support the government’s efforts to mitigate the worst effects of the global economic crisis in the short term and to continue its development programmes.

The $244 million PESF loans will support government measures to introduce economic and social policy reforms essential for achieving higher and more inclusive long-term growth and strengthening social safety net programmes, the press release added.

“The CSF loan will provide crucial support to the government as it acts to stimulate Bangladesh’s economic recovery and push ahead with its social safety net programmes to cushion the impact of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable while maintaining macroeconomic stability,” said Kunio Senga, director general of ADB’s South Asia department.

He said the PESF is equally vital to help the government deliver key public policy reforms to improve service delivery, enhance efficiency of social safety net programmes, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable, including women. It would also help the government promote public-private partnership, improve the investment climate, and strengthen management of scarce public resources, he said.

The loans follow a visit to Bangladesh in July by ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda, while he offered to provide additional ADB assistance to the government to counter the impact of the global economic crisis and maintain its development programmes to reduce poverty and promote growth. While Bangladesh has made significant progress in reducing poverty, an estimated 56 million people, or 40 percent of the population, still live below the poverty line, said the press release.

The release added that the Counter-cyclical Support Facility, established in June 2009, supports ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs) needing to increase fiscal spending to counter the global economic crisis. To be eligible to access the CSF, DMCs must be adversely affected by the global economic crisis, demonstrate sound macroeconomic policies, and have a counter-cyclical programme in place.

Finance ministry sources said a major part of the support is loans with hard terms. The rate of interest on these loans would be much higher than that of the soft loans. The interest rate of the loans with hard terms is three percent more than the London Inter Bank Offer Rate (LIBOR).

The rate of interest on soft loans is below one percent and time for payment of the loans is about 50 years. The interest rate on loans with hard terms would be higher than six percent and the deadline for payment is eight years.

However, when the loan plan was announced in May, the ADB president said, “The Counter-cycling Support Facility (CSF) will provide short-term loans faster and cheaper than ADB’s existing special programme loan (SPL) facilities.”

Source: The Daily Star, 14 October 2009

Blog Action Day

Write a post about climate change on October 15, 2009.

Blog Action Day is this Thursday, October 15! We’re excited to report that more than 5000 bloggers have already registered from 126 countries, with more signing up each day.  If you haven’t registered yet, it is not too late. Sign up here: http://www.blogactionday.org/en/blogs/new

Once you’ve signed up all you need to do is write a post about climate change this Thursday. We’ll have a live feed of all your posts on our homepage so you can track the conversation.

But, you may be asking, what am I going to write about?

We’re here to help. Climate climate impacts nearly all aspects of our lives, from business and technology to food, transportation and travel. Here’s a list of ideas and places to look for inspiration when deciding what to post on Thursday.

Food: Agricultural production around the world is responsible for nearly as much greenhouse gas emissions as all forms of transportation put together, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the food choices we make have a big impact on the climate. Read more and check out a few explanatory videos here.

Travel: More than 30 top travel blogs are participating in Blog Action Day. Check out who’s blogging and get ideas for writing about the connection between travel, geography, transit and climate change.

Events: If you want to write about what people around the world are doing locally to take action on climate change, check out our friends at 350.org. They’re organizing an International Day of Climate Action around the world on October 24. You can also check out their tools specifically for bloggers. For more events and actions to write about, go to: http://blogactionday.org/en/takeaction.

Business: Take a look at our post on 5 Ways Climate Change Will Change Business in the 21st Century to get some ideas of where climate change will have a big impact, and opportunities for the business sector.

Politics: It’s hard to ignore the connection between climate change and politics — from international negotiations to local and domestic policy debates. We’ve profiled some of the best political blogs participating in Blog Action Day this year where you can brush up on the inside information.

None of these topics fit your interest? We just put up a blog post with a longer list of topics and how they connect to climate, including design, technology, family, health and more. Take a look and add your ideas in the comments for everyone to see.

How you write about the way climate change affects our lives is up to you. The most important thing is that you participate so that together, we can help create an expanding global conversation about one of the most important issues we face.

 

Experts question WB project in farm sector : Suggest need assessment before seeking foreign loans

Mustafizur Rahman

After two major ‘reform’ initiatives that proved disastrous for the country’s jute sector, the World Bank has come up with another project in Bangladesh’s agriculture raising doubts among experts about its real intention.
   The $84.6 million National Agriculture Technology Project conceived in February 2008, apparently aims at improving national agricultural productivity and farm income to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.
   The project has four components – agricultural research support, agricultural extension support, development of supply chains and institutional efficiency.
   Experts in agriculture suggest that the government should assess the real needs before seeking funds from global lenders for the sector, which is doing well even without any foreign assistance and limited support from the public coffers.
   Involvement of the World Bank in the vital sector has also raised doubts in many because of the lending agency’s past policies that led to the death of jute sector, once the biggest export earner of the country.
   ‘The country’s agriculture sector has been making significant progress since early 1980s…We must work out our requirements in the area before taking assistance from the World Bank or any other international agency,’ former agriculture minister MK Anwar told New Age Saturday.
   The government is negotiating implementation of the Tk 622 crore project initially taken up by Fakhruddin Ahmed’s interim government in June 2007 with WB fund. Work on the project, scheduled for completion in 2013, started in September 2008 with a contribution of Tk 48 crore from the government.
   This is a major WB project in Bangladesh’s agriculture after the Jute Sector Reform Programme and Jute Sector Adjustment Credit implemented in early 1990s that reduced the once vibrant jute industry to a footnote in history.
   Bangladesh received less than $300 million in loan from the WB for the two projects at the cost of its overseas jute market and closure of 60 out of 82 state-owned jute mills that employed several million workers and provided a living for 25 million people engaged in jute farming and trading.
   As a sequel to the credit programmes, wheels of Adamjee, the world’s largest jute mills, ground to a halt in July 2002 taking the blame for losses resulted from neglect, corruption and mismanagement of decades.
   ‘In fact there is no need for such loans. Tk 622 crore is not a large sum…,’ says Professor Anu Muhammad, who teaches economics at Jahangirnagar University.
   Agriculture now is a global business and that is why the World Bank is offering money to countries like Bangladesh with a view to further commercialising the farm sector and intervening more in policies, which will ultimately put the country’s food security in jeopardy, he warned.
   He cited WB-influenced policies in the past that weakened the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation and extension services.
   ‘Only beneficiaries, who include consultants, will welcome such WB funds,’ said Professor Anu.
   He suggested that the government should assess the impacts of previous WB-aided ‘reform’ projects and work out a futuristic plan for agricultural development to ensure food security.
   This time the World Bank wanted non-government organisations as partners in implementing the NATP.
   ‘Why should we invite the NGOs for implementation of the agriculture sector project? We will take assistance only where we need it. We must assess our needs first and that must be done by ourselves,’ MK Anwar, a senior leader of the opposition BNP, said.
   The government, however, has turned down the lender’s proposal for engaging NGOs in implementing the NATP.
   ‘We have rejected outright the World Bank’s proposal for including NGOs in the Common Interest Groups to be formed at the grassroots under the first ever project in agriculture sector with World Bank assistance,’ agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury said Tuesday after a meeting with the lender’s representatives.
   She said the WB officials were convinced that the CIGs should be formed with the farmers at the village level without any involvement of the NGOs.
   Talking with New Age on the issue, former adviser to the interim government CS Karim said the country should go for need-based research in the agriculture sector.
   ‘We need to develop new varieties of paddy for southern parts of the country already affected by salinity. Moreover, the agriculture sector must be developed keeping in view the effects of climate change,’ Karim, also a nuclear scientist, pointed out.
   Echoing Anwar, the agriculture adviser to the 2007-08 interim government said the government must negotiate with international organisations on the basis of its own need assessment to develop the agriculture sector.
   The NATP, which looks to increase efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural research and extension systems, was framed during Karim’s tenure as the adviser.
   At the meeting with agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury last week, the WB stressed the need for expediting amendments to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Act 1996.
   ‘The delay in making amendments to the BARC Act is affecting the implementation of the Sponsored Public Good Research Component of the project which accounts for 20 per cent of base costs,’ said an official quoting the WB presentation made at the meeting.
   MK Anwar opposed the amendments to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. ‘World Bank does not want BARC to coordinate all development and research activities in agriculture sector.’
   Former finance adviser to the caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan said the government should undertake innovative projects in the agriculture sector, but everything should not be done in accordance with the suggestions of the donor agencies.
   ‘All projects in the agriculture sector are old…We should initiate new projects where we can take support from international organisations, like World Bank. But we should not follow all suggestions of the lending agencies,’ Akbar said.
   The project coordination unit is yet to develop a comprehensive strategy and action plan for the formation and mobilisation of about 15,000 CIGs as planned to deliver project support and benefit farmers in the targeted upazilas. Initially, the agriculture ministry has selected 120 upazilas for the NATP interventions, according to official records.
   World Bank’s past role in Bangladesh agriculture asking the governments to close down Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation and not to give subsidies to farmers made economists sceptic about its real agenda behind the new project.
   Despite its declining share in GDP, agriculture still accounts for about 21 per cent of gross domestic product, employs around 50 per cent of the total labour force and feeds around 140 million people of the country.

Source: The Daily New Age, 13 October 2009

Nominations Now Being Accepted for 2009 ARRL Humanitarian Award

DEADLINE: 31 DECEMBER 2009, APPLY NOW

Nominations are open for the 2009 ARRL International Humanitarian Award. The award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international understanding through Amateur Radio. The League established the annual prize to recognize Amateur Radio operators who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to others in times of crisis or disaster.

A committee appointed by the League’s President recommends the award recipient(s) to the ARRL Board, which makes the final decision. The committee is now accepting nominations from Amateur Radio, governmental or other organizations that have benefited from extraordinary service rendered by an Amateur Radio operator or group. Amateur Radio is one of the few telecommunication services that allow people throughout the world from all walks of life to meet and talk with each other, thereby spreading goodwill across political boundaries. The ARRL International Humanitarian Award recognizes Amateur Radio’s unique role in international communication and the assistance amateurs regularly provide to people in need.

Nominations should include a summary of the nominee’s actions that qualify the individual (or individuals) for this award, plus verifying statements from at least two people having first-hand knowledge of the events warranting the nomination. These statements may be from an official of a group (for example, the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army or a local or state emergency management official) that benefited from the nominee’s particular Amateur Radio contribution. Nominations should include the names and addresses of all references.

All nominations and supporting materials for the 2009 ARRL International Humanitarian Award must be submitted in writing in English to ARRL International Humanitarian Award, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 USA. Nomination submissions are due by December 31, 2009. In the event that no nominations are received, the committee itself may determine a recipient or decide to make no award. The recipient (or recipients) of the ARRL International Humanitarian Award receive an engraved plaque and a profile in QST and other ARRL venues.

The 2008, the ARRL Humanitarian Award was given to the Amateur Radio operators of the Sichuan Radio Sports Association, the Chinese Radio Sports Association (CRSA) — that country’s IARU Member-Society — and the many Amateur Radio operators in China who assisted with communications support in the aftermath of the May 2008 earthquake in the Wenchuan area of China’s Sichuan province. In conferring the award, the committee noted that the hams’ “immediate actions and use of Amateur Radio rendered assistance to victims” of the earthquake and the “long-term relief operation mounted by these organizations exemplifies the highest level of dedication to public service.”

The 2010 Conservation Awards from the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP)

DEADLINE:  06 NOVEMBER  2009, APPLY NOW

The Conservation Leadership Programme is now soliciting applications for 2010 Conservation Awards. The application deadline is 6th November 2009 for ALL applications and awards will be announced in March 2010.

The CLP has been helping young conservationists to achieve their goals and move into positions of influence within the conservation sector, and 2010 marks the 25th Anniversary of this highly successful program! Successful applicants will: 1.) Develop the knowledge, skills and abilities of team members; 2.) Implement high-priority conservation projects combining research and action; and 3.) Contribute to the long-term success of local conservation efforts.

This year’s awards include:

Future Conservationist Awards: Approximately 20 awards of up to $12,500 each
Conservation Follow-up Awards: Approximately 5 awards of up to $25,000 each
Conservation Leadership Awards: 2 awards of up to $50,000 each

Are you Eligible?

This year we are happy to offer Conservation Awards to applicants working across Africa, Asia, Eastern and South-eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. Countries that are NOT ELIGIBLE include those countries designated as high-income economies by the World Bank, with the exception of island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean and some countries in the Middle East. If you have any questions about eligible countries, please contact the CLP.

Take our Eligibility Quiz now to learn if your project fits our award criteria.

How to Apply:

• Download Guidelines for Future Conservationist Awards or Guidelines for Follow-up and Leadership Awards for full details and application instructions.
• If you have never received support from the CLP, download a Future Conservationist Application Form to be filled out offline.
• If you have already received an award from the CLP, you are eligible to apply for a Follow-up or Leadership Award. Download a Follow-up / Leadership Application Form to be filled out offline.
• Submit your application through our Online Application Site – LINK COMING SOON! Please note that we will only be accepting online applications this year – the fastest method for completing your application is to download the word document and copy and paste the information into the online application form.

All teams submitting an application will receive feedback on their proposal. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact a member of the CLP team well before the application deadline for advice on project eligibility, methods and project activities. The CLP can also put teams in touch with local partner offices or other experts who can provide additional advice.

A representative from each award-winning team will be invited to attend an international training event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in June/July 2010 organized by the CLP to share ideas and develop skills, knowledge and contacts. Additionally, winning teams are able to network with experts from within each of the partner organizations and past winners. CLP team members are available to help with project implementation, including guidance required during the planning and team training stages.

Have additional questions or seeking advice? Email clp@birdlife.org for more information.

ILO, WTO JOINT STUDY ON TRADE AND INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT : Informal employment curbs trade benefits for developing countries

A joint study from the International Labour Organization and the WTO has found that high incidence of informal employment in the developing world suppresses countries’ ability to benefit from trade opening by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition. “Trade has contributed to growth and development worldwide. But this has not automatically translated into an improvement in the quality of employment. Trade opening needs proper domestic policies to create good jobs. This is all the more evident with the current crisis which has reduced trade and thrown thousands into informal jobs,” said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.

GENEVA (ILO/WTO News) — A joint study from the International Labour Organization and the WTO has found that high incidence of informal employment in the developing world suppresses countries’ ability to benefit from trade opening by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition.

The study is a product of the collaborative research programme of the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies and the WTO Secretariat. It focuses on the linkages between globalization and informal employment and finds that informal employment is widespread in many developing countries, leaving thousands of workers with almost no job security, low incomes and no social protection. Levels of informality vary substantially across countries, ranging from as low as 30% in some Latin American countries to more than 80% in certain sub-Saharan African and South Asian countries.

“The study confirms what we know from experience, that by promoting complementarity between decent work objectives and trade, financial and labour market policies, developing countries are much better placed to benefit from trade opening, advance the social dimension of globalization, and to cope with the current crisis” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. He added that this echoes the recent call by the G20 to implement “recovery plans that support decent work, help preserve employment, and prioritize job growth….and to continue to provide income, social protection, and training support for the unemployed and those most at risk of unemployment.”

Informal employment involves private, unregistered enterprises which are not subject to national law or regulation, offer no social protection and involve self-employed individuals, or members of the same household. In most cases, informality has remained high and has even increased in some countries, particularly in Asia.

“Trade has contributed to growth and development worldwide. But this has not automatically translated in an improvement in the quality of employment. Trade opening needs proper domestic policies to create good jobs. This is all the more evident with the current crisis which has reduced trade and thrown thousands into informal jobs,” said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.

The analyses on the effect of trade opening on the size of the informal economy suggest that the effect of trade opening on informality depends crucially on both country-specific circumstances and the design of trade and domestic policies. The empirical analysis in this study shows that more open economies tend to have a lower incidence of informal employment. The short term effects of trade reforms may in the first instance be associated with higher informal employment. But longer terms effects point in the direction of a strengthening of formal sector employment, provided that trade reforms are more employment friendly and the right domestic policies are in place.

Reducing informality can release additional productive forces, enhance diversification and strengthen the capacity to trade internationally. Adverse effects of informality can mainly be related to the absence of productivity gains and low average firm size resulting from barriers to firm growth in the informal economy. Entrepreneurship and risk-taking is reduced when informality is high, partly as a result of badly designed tax systems, weak social protection and poor business regulation. Informality also prevents countries from fully benefiting from trade reforms by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition.

The higher the incidence of informality, the greater the vulnerability of developing countries to shocks like the ongoing global crisis. Countries with larger informal economies suffer more frequently from shocks and experience lower sustainable growth rates. Also, informal employment reduces the effectiveness of automatic stabilizers.

Integration into world markets and tackling informal employment through decent work policies should be considered complementary. Facilitating formality of firms and jobs helps a country to benefit fully from trade openness, improves living standards and gives workers access to decent working conditions. Social protection is also crucial for supporting transitions and realising the gains from open trade. Greater attention should be devoted to social protection policies as well as to the design of trade reforms.

The study suggests that trade reforms should be designed and implemented in an employment-friendly way, making the reallocation of jobs more conducive to formal employment growth. 

An Interesting Debate started on Role of World Bank: You can join here

Aman Rahman Wrote in his status at Facebook
 
Aaman Rahman Wondering how long the world bank-IMF duo will keep sucking commoners blood to remain alive? Isnt 60 years enough?…..
 
Comments of Readers:
 
You and Subhagya M. Chakma like this.
 
Subhagya M. Chakma
I think their milestone is still far away…as the global reality hints.
 
Taibur Rahman Sumon
How WB works? It has no interest rate for poor country. only 0.75% service charge with 10 + 30 years of repayment period. How it sucks commoners blood? rather money taken from WB is wasted by the government and blame goes to WB. We have very poor negotiation skill and weak backbone. 25% of our development budget comes from WB. However we seldom lend money from IMF. We should blame ourselves not others.

Aaman Rahman
….sumon vai nice to hear from u…the thing is…when Bd got independence which was the single most thrust sector of our economy?Obviously agriculture..contributing almost half of the gdp. and which agriculture commodity earned 75% of export earning? it was jute and jute products…bd also hv to fight for independence with pak bcoz of its due … Read Moreshare from jute economy. in 72 there were 77 jute industries accommodating almost 1 million low and semi skilled workforce and around twenty backward and forward linked industries were dependent on it, which also accommodated another half a mln of labor force. this is only one instance….bd steel and eng corp, state owned textile mills, hardboard mills, newsprint mills…what happened to these manufacturing industries hving strong backward linkage in the country. now how many of these state owned enterprises are in operation and how much labor force do they accommodate. bro only 14 jute mills are left alive….(basically those are half dead already)…steel, fertilizer, textiles…in the name of structural adjustment/ privatization and deregulation most of them are just disappeared from the public books of account. upon whose conditionality the govt have did this? just ask any of the rickshaw-pullers in narayanganj or in khulna..they wont be hesitated to grab the answer for you. yes certainly the corrupted civil and army bureaucrats and the back-boneless politicians hv had implemented the SAP to de-industrialize the country, often by force..often to capitalize personal gains from it. it doesnt mean “we” did it. to me and many of us “we” means who are for the commoners. all of these massacres are done by “them”, who are only for profit…..it cud be the imperialists, multinational corps, the world bank, or their local agents. its not like deshi vs bideshi. and by the way, the food crisis/ price hike now a days people experience in bd, its also the outcome of world banks strategy…sap. prsp..money in bd is expensive bcoz of imf and their contractionery fiscal policy in the name of prgf. evidences are in the central banks reports. world bank’s prescribed work on impact of structural adjustment program called SAPRI is another report to get through. however evidences are in front of our eyes….we do not need to proof gravity law again.
 
Taibur Rahman Sumon
Aaman, I appreciate your deep analysis though You have provided some journalistic view. Most of the conditionalities given by WB are project based not policy based. I am not talking abt IMF as I have little knowledge abt their system of operation. I worked for about 5 years as counter part desk-officer of WB in ERD. Now a days, the conditionalities… Read More are too soft covering long term aspects like good governance, reform in the procurement system, proper financial reporting, tariff adjustment and so on and those are like proposals asking only for commitment from the government not the actual achievment as those cant be achieved in short term. There are some corruption possibilities in WB local office jointly with implementing GoB officials. Unfortunately still those officials in WB local office are Bangladeshi. You shouldnt just follow what rickshaw puller says or follow popular blame game. Those are mostly political speech. WB is still contributing 30% of our dev budget and all the govt are trying to increase the amount. Why, even with those political blame game? There could be some mis leading policy advise from WB like in the Jute sector. But those are not conditionalities and Govt were not forced to implement that. They are just a Bank and its is up to us whether we take money from them or not. I find WB, ADB (though interest rate is little bit high 3-4%), Japan (the best single contributor), EU as our best development partner. But we have to be smart and patriotic enough to utilise those money.

Even if u dont like their terms, dont take the money and if you desparately need the money then you have to compromise a little bit.

Thanks!!
 
Aaman Rahman
good to hear that u work in erd. then we cud get insights from the inside. thnx.
 
Prodip Kumar Roy
The discussion inspires me to write here about my understanding. I think, it is very important for us, particularly who are thinking about the interest of common people. Through these discussion, we will get a clear picture of aid politics which are conducted globally through diplomatic ways.

First, we know, a major part of our development budget is formulated based on supports occurs from development partners like WB and WB provides soft loan to LDCs like Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a legitamate right to get loan from development partners and the development partners have a responsibility to assist the LDCs . It is not emotional talks; rather it is rational and binding responsibility of rich countries and development partners to assist the LDCs. These binding responsibilties has been set out at diffirent global declaration including goal 8 of millennium declaration commits for global partnership.

So, it is not so simple to summerise that if you don’t like, you don’t take! It is a very poor approach and from such kind of thinking, we could never realise the policy implementation procedures (development politics or aid politics) of WB and other development partners…. Read More

Mr. Sumon said that conditionalities given by WB project based, not policy based! It is very narrow thinking! Projects are negotiated and indentified under the policy guidelines of WB. So, we could not think, conditionalities imposed project based. Here is an example: Recently you know, the government is negotiating an implementation strategy with WB ON 15 years mega project for agricultural sector, `National Agriculture Technology Project (NATP)’ and the WB pressures to government to inlcudes NGOs as CIGs and reform of Bangladesh Agricultural Reseach Council (BARC). Why? Because, WB is finding opportunity to utilise their foreign experts (scientists) to the project. Why? Because from these foreign experts, they will identify such technology and recommendations which will suit for multi-national companies. Particularly these external expert will recommend mono-culture hybrid, GMO which makes absolute dependency on multi-national companies which will destroy our agriculture in the near future. As a lender, WB has not right to impose these conditionalities. But they do it, because our poor political understanding about global politics.

We all know that, WB pressured Bangladesh to reduce subsidy at agriculture and reform of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation. To implement the policy advises of WB, we have already destroy our agricultural supply chain which impacts in our daily lifes.

Most of the time, here also, we blames our politicians and bureaucrats for poor skills and knowledge. But think about the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and so-called PRSP. Through these reform programme, there have created a lot of opportunities to become a corrupted people. Any consequences, the nation becomes corrupted no 1. Then WB puts their finger to reduce corruption. Through implementing these reform projects, the politicians has been washed out from political field and business persons becomes politicians. So, we need to think, every aspects of any reform programme which advised by our lenders as policy guidelines.

Taibur Rahman Sumon
“Thank you mr. Prodip for ur insights. Again I suggest to review in detail the negotiation process of project loans. pushing foreign consultants in bangladeshi projects is not WB’s agenda, however some officialas of WB are definitely trying to do this because of their personal interest and linkages. Here comes the negotiation skills required by the GoB officials and their political leaders. With proper skill it is definitely possible to protect country interest first. If we are firm and logical, no WB officials would be able to force us to keep options for foreign consultants who are most of the time inefficient and unaware about the context. Well I agree that PRSP is somewhat a superficial document but not a bad one. We have weakness in plan making process. All the output either PRSP or five year plan would be superficial.

WB again cant force us to take their identified projects. We can identify our projects and we do this regularly though there are lot of arguments about their quality and relevance.

I dont agree that aid is our right. I rather dont like taking aid if we could manage without that. However, within near future we must have to beg for aid. If u say its our right u wouldn’t get any.

If WB does not provide any funding for agriculture, then we should invest our own money there. We need not to wait for them with our priority. 30% of our dev. budget goes to capacity building project amongst which 80% is totally wasted in useless foreign study tour and training.

 We have to fight with knowledge with WB counterpart officials for appropriate conditionalities but not saying that aid is our right.

How long we would take aid? domestic resource mobilization is must. And if WB suggests that, they are bad as taxes and tariffs go high. Thaks a lot for this interesting practical development debate. I wouldn’t be available to comment on this further for next month.
 Cheers!!!”

Prodip Kumar Roy

First, thanks Mr.Taibur Rahman Sumon for providing some important information. I think, we can discuss and discussion will enhance our capacity and skills to advocate to formulate pro-people policies and projects.
I agree with you in most of the points. We know, we need capacity, skills of negotiation. We also know, we formulate our projects and WB… Read More just provides feedback as advises. But insights is not limited in this process. Hope, I will explain it here later.
I will take another opportunity later to explain my points of view on Rights of Aid and we also need capacity and skills to establish this approach. Thanks again for giving us time in this discussion and hope we will continue it later.

Tareq Ahmed

all these projects r taken 4 the sake of WB and some consultants.ironically,the political parties like:AL or BNP although pretends to be confronting each other on many issues,but r in equal position for taking loans from WB or ADB or any other IFI,without thinking about the interest of the country.

Prodip Kumar Roy

Thanks for comments. I have added your comments at my blog on a same discussion which is stated there.
I think, we can form a group to assess every project of WB and ADB. If you are interested, please response. I think, it will work in policy influence.

Tareq Ahmed

thanks prodip da 4 including my comments on ur blog.but i think if u really mean it,i would become interested.but,i think u should think beyond blog only.b’coz these issues should reach the people who r really concerned and also the literate citizens at least,if u can not reach the common mass.

also,think about the policies that these IFI’s r enforcing,which is affecting the common citizens dail life.for ex:price hiking in sectors like: energy,water,health etc.or pressuring the govt.ments to become captives of IOC’s through leasing energy &mineral resources.wholesale prescription 4 privarization etc.

Prodip Kumar Roy

Thanks! Really we need to work project by project. Because most of time, we fails to influence policy due to lack of presenting appropriate evidence and impacts.
I know, we should mobilise the people. Blog is not the appropriate platform. So, we need to create a working group for study and advocacy who will present continuously project impacts to the country people.

Shourov Kumar Roy

Actually I am confused with the so called literate and concerned people of our country. Whom you are going to make understand ??? Few people are really concerned but they don’t have the power to change the system. Others are conscious culprit who are just interested in their own benefit. They don’t bother about the country. Actually we need … Read Morepoliticians and Govt. high officials whom we can call GREAT; I mean we need a good system and to run that we need skilled people who have patriotism in them with intellectuality. Great politicians/leaders will not arise if we don’t have conscious general people. To make people conscious, we need good education system. All the people of our country have to be literate in true sense. It is a complex thing and cannot be achieved within short time. We need to work and wait for that moment. For the time being, we need to fight with the evils. I am a simple citizen of my country. I don’t understand the complex issues of WB / ADB Loan etc. But I can understand that if we have good politicians/ leaders then we will do great… Otherwise our country will continue suffering. If needed take loan but with that loan do good for our people. There is the gap. We take loan but we don’t know how to utilize that loan in positive way for our people. It is a financial management theory that, don’t take loan for any purpose which will not generate money. In our case(considering the country) if needed we can take loan to generate something good for our better future. We need proper persons on these positions who handle these matters. I know I could not express my thoughts clearly. Complexity is there. Acutally when I think I don’t find any solution. Because problem is in our system where corruption is the key word. When will our politicians understand that how powerful are they and they can give a good system to our nation. It is very much needed. We have the mass power, just we need the guideline. (People who are really concerned it is for them -> Do some systems over their systems so that they become bound to think good about the country. Prepare yourselves and lift you up to those positions with a strong network. There is always a chance to begin as there is always hope…) [ You people are working on more complex isssues, I know. I just wanted to share my thoughts. Thanks.

Prodip Kumar Roy

Shourav, Thanks for your comments. I think, you have highlighted some important questions! Thanks again.