Full Coverage: International Cooperation

12/30/2005 UNITED NATIONS, Dec 30 (OneWorld) - Overwhelmed with the challenges posed by a series of natural disasters that occurred in 2005, United Nations officials responsible for delivering humanitarian aid are urging international donors to get prepared for the next year now.

12/30/2005 Moreover, all member countries have finalised sensitive lists that protect vulnerable domestic producers. The tariff reduction mandated under SAFTA will not apply on items on countries’ respective sensitive lists. India, for instance, has kept 884 tariff lines in its sensitive list for non-LDCs and 763 items inthe list for LDCs. India’s sensitive list mainly includes agricultural goods, textiles, chemicals, leather and goods reserved for small scale industries.

12/29/2005 Pelastakaa Lapsilla on ollut kummiohjelmia Keniassa jo 15 vuotta. Kummien tuella annetaan mm. koulutusta tytöille, äideille, maanviljelijöille ja pienyrittäjille. Juomaveden saatavuutta parannetaan kaivoilla ja vedenkeruulaitteilla ja malarian torjumiseksi pihoilta raivataan lätäköitä.

12/29/2005 The government has ratified SAFTA and endorsed a tariff liberalization plan (TLP) which will drop prices of Indian as well as other South Asian goods from the next fiscal year.

12/29/2005 Saksa aikoo nostaa kehitysyhteistyön osuutta nykyisestä 0,28 prosentin bruttokansantulotasosta 0,51 prosenttiin vuoteen 2010 mennessä ja 0,7 prosenttiin vuoteen 2015 mennessä. Käytännössä 0,51 prosentin rajan saavuttaminen edellyttää nykyisen kehitysyhteistyöbudjetin kaksinkertaistamista.

12/28/2005 With three days left to meet the deadline, the trade under South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) among the Sarrc counties from January 1, next year is in doldrums as Sri Lanka says it will ratify Safta draft some time in April next year.

12/28/2005 Pakistan made clear on Tuesday it was not bound to offer a transit facility for trade between Afghanistan and other member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

12/27/2005 The Federal Minister for Commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan has said that end in agricultural subsidy and duty tariffs on cotton products as initiated by WTO, would greatly benefit Pakistan.

12/26/2005 A un anno dal maremoto che ha colpito il Sudest asiatico, le organizzazioni non governative fanno il punto: 120 progetti di tipo socio-sanitario, educativo e di tutela dei minori rimasti orfani che vedono impegnate le Ong italiane in 7 Paesi colpiti. Medici Senza Frontiere (MSF) ha pubblicato un rapporto sulle sue operazioni. In quanto organizzazione di soccorso medico, MSF è infatti intervenuta in risposta all’emergenza umanitaria, e non in un’ottica di ricostruzione. Per questo ha dopo 9 giorni aveva annunciato la sospensione della raccolta fondi dedicata all’emergenza. Invece per Terre des hommes la fase di ricostruzione è stata ormai avviata. Sono circa 300mila le persone che hanno finora beneficiato dei programmi di emergenza e riabilitazione messi in atto da Terre des hommes nei luoghi colpiti dallo tsunami, oltre la metà dei quali sono sono bambini. ‘Mani Tese’ racconta invece con una fiaba quello che ha fatto per sostenere le comunità, grazie all’impegno dei partner locali attivi nelle zone colpite dal maremoto.

12/26/2005 ADB approved this week more than US$970 million in assistance for India, comprising a financing facility of up to $750 million for the country's rural roads program and a $221.2 million loan to upgrade urban infrastructure in Kerala state.

12/24/2005 UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 (OneWorld) - Twenty-six years ago, the United Nations adopted a treaty that is often described by human rights experts as the international "Bill of Rights" for women.

12/23/2005 Američki Senat je jučer jednoglasno usvojio je rezoluciju kojom preporuča da se Hrvatska što prije uključi u NATO. Rezoluciju sličnog sadržaja je prošlog tjedna donio i Zastupnički dom. Time je cijeli američki Kongres izrazio potporu Hrvatskoj za uključenje u Savez.

12/23/2005 The World Population Foundation (WPF) has urged the government to amend syllabus to make it more suitable for adolescents.The WFP, is actively involved in helping the adolescents in Pakistan since 1998.

12/23/2005 On the eve of the East Asia Summit, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew hoped that India "would be a useful balance to China's heft" and that Asia's two ancient civilisations would "again" extend their influence into South-East Asia. "It would mean great prosperity for the region, but could also mean a tussle for power."

12/23/2005 Efforts to create a regional tsunami alert centre for the Indian Ocean are being undermined by a lack of trust and poor planning, say specialists. India, Indonesia and Thailand, the three countries worst affected by last year's tsunami, are among the nations developing their own warning systems after failing to agree on a regional one.

12/22/2005 UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (OneWorld) - While senior United Nations officials and diplomats from other countries would like to see the International Criminal Court (ICC) playing an important role in the world community's efforts to deter attacks against innocent civilians during armed conflicts, the United States says no way.

12/22/2005 Mentre in Italia la magistratura indaga sulle vicende di importanti gruppi bancari, tra nuovi investimenti effettuati e facilitazioni ai finanziamenti, nell’Anno Internazionale del Microcredito le associazioni italiane hanno dato un contributo di circa 17 milioni di euro (20 milioni di dollari) alla crescita della microfinanza nell’Est e nel Sud del mondo. Protagoniste soprattutto tre organizzazioni: il Consorzio Etimos, del gruppo Banca Popolare Etica; CreSud, la società di investimento partecipata da Botteghe del commercio equo come Chico Mendes di Milano e Mandacarù di Trento, dal Consorzio Altromercato e dal coordinamento di Ong Cipsi; Microfinanza srl, società fornitrice di servizi al microcredito e alla microimpresa. Il microcredito nel mondo raggiunge 66 milioni di microimprenditori poveri, soprattutto donne.

12/22/2005 The support by the citizens of EU member-states for Macedonian membership in the European Union, which was never actually to big, follows a slow downward trend, claims Eurobarometer, EC’s public opinion research agency.

12/22/2005 With protests now becoming an integral part of WTO ministerials it is hardly surprising that the organisation likes to project its decisions as having a human face.

12/22/2005 The National Social Watch Coalition and ActionAid India provide the latest information and news from Hong Kong. The information has been provided in the form of two newsletters in PDF - wto news6.pdf and wto news8.pdf.