The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
EVERYONE agrees that the greatest achievement of the world's largest-ever environment conference -- at Rio last year -- was the establishment of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) to monitor environmental degradation. But how effective the 53-member CSD, scheduled to hold its first meeting on June 14, will be is …
THE RESURGENCE of infectious bacterial diseases in the developed world is proof that the battle against them is not over. But there has been no corresponding surge in drug research, because multinationals consider large investments in research to be uneconomical (Science, Vol 257, No 5073). Scientists warn against complacence in …
AL GORE being elected vice-president of the US has delighted environmentalists elsewhere, for unlike his predecessor Dan Quayle, who once spelt potato with an "e" at the end in a schoolroom appearance, Gore is educated. In Earth in the Balance, a recipient of the 1992 Robert Kennedy Award, Gore stimulates …
WE ARE all conscious of the problems of the global environment. However, if we are to move beyond mere recognition of these problems and address them in unison, it is necessary to reconcile our differing perceptions on the nature of these problems, to understand them in their totality, and then …
What prompted you to enter politics? And how significant is your nomination as green party candidate in view of current happenings, particularly in Chile? I didn't take the initiative. Frankly, being a presidential candidate wasn't a part of my scheme of things. In fact, I have never belonged to any …
TWO HUNDRED years ago, Thomas Malthus had asked at what point man's population would exceed his means of subsistence. The world's population then had not reached 1 billion. Today, a year before the population conference in Cairo, the total number of people in the world is fast approaching 5.5 billion. …
BEIJING is making an all-out effort to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) by the end of this year, despite indications from US trade representatives that it may take longer. The Chinese have been wooing foreign investors by telling them that their entry to GATT is imminent, …
DENMARK is determined to use its position as president of the European Commission to push through the proposed energy tax because, as Danish energy minister Jann Sjurgen put it, "EC must shoulder its responsibility in trying to combat global warming." The proposed tax will be levied on fuels with a …
RESISTANCE to GATT secretary general Arthur Dunkel"s proposals is building up in India. But even as the government tries to pacify fears that it will give *in to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) - the all- encompassing global trade rules that are being negotiated - its game …
Indian government"s concerns with theDunkel draft Commerce ministry"s comments: What the critics say: If the facility for process palents, currently enjoyedby Indian drug manufacturers, is taken away,prices of several medicines patented by MNCs will soar. The magnitude of the price rise will depend on a variety of factors. in any …
Developing countries are concerned by the silent disappearance of some and the qver-simplificalion of other provisions of the Brussels Draft, 1990 -the first draft agreement reached during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. These provisions were of special interest 10 developing countries and were open for negotiations. But they …
HIROSHI Nakajima, newly re-elected director general of the World Health Organisation, could face a demand for his resignation at WHO's annual assembly in May in Geneva, unless allegations of financial irregularities are resolved. Nakajima won a hard-fought campaign in January for a second five-year term. Eighteen of WHO's 31-member executive …
As a representative of an NGO from the North that looks into issues of the South, how do you react to conflicts between the South's priorities in sustainable development and those of the North? It's a curious situation for an activist to realise the despondency of the situation. It's not …
THE DUNKEL draft on the renegotiated GATT is finally becoming a public concern in India and farmers are taking the issue to the streets. Several industrial sectors, too, have expressed concern about some of its provisions. Nevertheless, the government continues to fight shy of revealing either its stand or its …
UNDER the unrelenting pressure of population growth, millions of landholdings in Asia and other parts of the developing world are small - and getting smaller. India alone has at least 33 million holdings of less than half a hectare. These plots may be small but they are far from insignificant. …
You have questioned the appropriateness of the system of national parks in developing countries. What are your objections? The idea of national parks came up in the West with the object of preserving the wilderness. Given the size and population of countries like the United States, it was feasible. But …
THAT SCIENCE and technology (in the broadest sense) have something to do with development is accepted now almost universally. From the discovery of iron to the harnessing of steam, technology has played a major role in determining the level of economic development of any era. This is as true today …
IN DAYS long gone, the bearer of bad tidings was usually put to death unceremoniously. In today's more civilised times, we in the Third World prefer to vilify such messengers as biased agents of neo-imperialists, who never hesitate to point out the mote in our eyes while remaining blissfully oblivious …
AT LEAST 600 million of the 1.5 billion urban inhabitats in AsiaAfrica and Latin America live in squattersettlements on illegally occupied land or in housingdevelmopment schemes that never received municipalapproval. Their houses fail to meet government buildingstandards and their inhabitants are victims of overcrowdingpoor constructionlack of piped waterrudimentarysanitationinadequate drainage and …
