Douste-Blazy And Wolfowitz Evoke Synergies Between UNITAID And World Bank

“Possible synergies between the UNITAID program and World Bank efforts in the matter of health were evoked Thursday by the President of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz and the French Minister of Foreign Affaires, Philippe Douste-Blazy.

The International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID), launched by France, Norway, Brazil, Chile and the UK, anticipates the collection of EUR 300 million in 2007 thanks to a new tax on airplane tickets that will be allocated to the purchase of medicines against the biggest diseases in the poorest countries. Douste-Blazy and Wolfowitz discussed some countries, particularly affected by sanitation problems, to which the first ‘common efforts’ could be sent, indicated the Ministry in an official statement. …” [Agencia EFE/Factiva]

“… Douste-Blazy and Wolfowitz also broached the subject of the preparation of the international conference on the reconstruction of Lebanon planned for January. The French minister praised “the swift reaction of the World Bank the day after the cessation of hostilities.”

With respect to the situation in Africa, the two “emphasized the quality of cooperation between the World Bank, the French Agency for Development (AfD) and French development cooperation,” according to the Quai d’Orsay. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Development Agencies Will Improve Quality Of Aid To Microfinance

“The large cooperation and development agencies Thursday announced an agreement for ‘improving the quality of aid’ destined for microfinancing, with no need to increase their funding, that sometimes are inefficiently employed.

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) that groups some thirty national agencies and multilateral development organizations meets Thursday and Friday at the Casa de America Latina of Paris, with the participation of the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz. The conference takes place one week after the creator of the system of microcredits, the Bangladeshi Mohamed Yunus, was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. ‘Access to financing is one of the main obstacles in Africa,’ pointed out Wolfowitz … .

The agreement that will be signed tomorrow establishes a ‘code of good practices’ and a ‘clear and transparent index’ that allows one to compare the quality of the aid of microfinance between the institutions that integrate CGAP Director Elizabeth Littlefield said during a press conference. …”

Paris Club Cancels Almost All Malawi's Debt

“The Paris Club of sovereign creditors has agreed to cancel almost all of Malawi's remaining debt following a massive debt reduction deal unveiled last month, the group said on Thursday. 

‘As a result of this agreement and additional bilateral assistance, Malawi's debt to Paris Club creditors will be reduced from $363 million to $9 million in nominal terms,’ a Paris Club statement said. Paris Club members said they applauded Malawi’s ‘determination to implement a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy and an ambitious economic program providing the basis for sustainable economic growth.’ …” [Reuters/Factiva]

“… The Club noted that Malawi had already fulfilled most of the requirements for debt relief as determined by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

“… The relief was agreed under terms of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative that provides for debt cancellation for the world's most impoverished states. Twelve Paris Club members participated in the restructuring: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

Malawi, a nation of 11 million people in southern Africa, is one of the world's poorest countries, with an average annual per-capita income of US$200 a year. The Paris Club, formed in 1956, is an informal group of creditor governments from major industrialized countries.” [The Associated Press/Factiva]

Poor Nations Wary Of EU Development Deals – Jamaica

“Developing countries fear the EU is too focused on opening up their economies in new deals between Brussels and Europe's former colonies that are intended to ease poverty, Jamaica's foreign minister said on Thursday. 

The EU's Executive Commission and the nearly 80 countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group are entering a critical phase of talks over new trade and investment deals, called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). ‘We are concerned that (EU) negotiators are extremely focused on market access for the EU with little attention to market building or the development component of the EPAs,’ Jamaican Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Anthony Hylton said. ‘Development must remain the priority,’ he told a conference on the talks which were launched nearly four years ago and are now homing in on core details ahead of an end-2007 deadline. That is when the EU's existing system of privileged treatment for imports from ACP countries must be scrapped after being ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO). …”  [Reuters/Factiva]

“European Commission trade chief Peter Mandelson Thursday defended his plan to revamp trade deals with former colonies. ‘A market that is open to imports is a healthy market,’ Mandelson told the European Parliament. ‘Those who dismiss the EU's position in these negotiations as 'forcing open' these markets to unwanted EU investment, or accuse the EU of 'peddling a corporate agenda' not only misrepresent the EU's intentions, but are willfully misrepresenting the economic evidence,’ he said. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva]

“…If EPAs are to fulfill their promise and furnish an inspiring example of the modish ‘aid-for-trade’ concept, both donor and recipients will have to raise their game. As Mandelson said yesterday: ‘Let's be clear about the value of development aid. It is a means to an end - it's a way of translating policy reform into practice . . . The money is now on the table but what we really lack are specific, quantified proposals on how to use it.’ Used well, the aid could provide investment to help ACP economies diversify from their traditional exports - largely basic commodities - and create transport infrastructure and streamlined customs procedures to get new products to market. …” [The Financial Times (UK)/Factiva]

World Bank Vows Long-Term Support For Afghanistan

“World Bank Managing Director Graeme Wheeler in his visit to Afghanistan this week met President Hamid Karzai and discussed reconstruction and development programs with him.

During his stay, Wheeler visited several World Bank-financed projects, and reiterated the World Bank's long term commitment to the country. … A press statement issued [in Kabul] said ‘we have all learned that in conflict and post-conflict countries, where capacity and institutions are fragile, building or re-building both infrastructure and institutions are key ingredients to success, but to be done correctly takes time,’ said Wheeler. ‘I am very pleased to see that much progress has been made by the government, in partnership with communities, NGOs, donors and the private sector, in reactivating important public services and rehabilitating key infrastructure. Enormous challenges remain, however, to improve service delivery and accountability. Continued progress will require strong development actions on the ground, as well as significantly improved government capacity, a deepening of public administrative reforms and firmly addressing governance and corruption,’ he added. …” [Pajhwok Afghan News/Factiva]

“The World Bank has expressed concern over the high salaries of a number of Afghan government officials. The World Bank's chief of administrative affairs says the rise in salaries is worrying unless there are programmes to develop the capacity of workers within the government. … A delegation of the World Bank discussed these issues at a meeting with the leadership of parliament. Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Yunos Qanuni voiced support for World Bank development projects, saying that the structure of the government needed to be reduced in size to help bring about further reforms in departments. … A group of World Bank experts will come to Afghanistan to help the government to implement administrative reforms. …” [Tolo TV (Afghanistan)/Factiva]

Also In This Edition: OIE Chief Urges World Bird Flu Compensation Fund; Also Reports...; Briefly Noted...

OIE Chief Urges World Bird Flu Compensation Fund

“The head of the World Animal Health body OIE said on Thursday an international fund to compensate farmers in poor countries for bird flu culls was urgently needed to ensure reporting of the deadly virus. 

Officials from the OIE, World Bank, European Commission and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) met in Paris this week with the aim of setting up a fund by early next year. ‘We’d like to convince the international financial institutions to have a world fund reserved for animal health emergencies,’ OIE Director General Bernard Vallat said. ‘Once a crisis erupts in a developing country, it's very rare there are funds available for compensation, which costs a lot of money,’ he told Reuters.  … ‘If there is not an absolute guarantee that the farmer will be reimbursed in a fair, equitable and rapid way, there is a tendency towards very dangerous behavior,’ Vallat said, adding this could mean selling birds on at local open-air markets. … 

Vallat said it took around 18 months for the international community to react properly to the emergence of H5N1 in Asia. ‘And that's why the disease spread to Europe and Africa. We need a world fund that can act immediately,’ he said. Vallat said it was too early say how much money would be needed. He said officials were now working on more detailed economic assessment of needs and this would be discussed at a major bird flu conference in Mali in early December.” [Reuters/Factiva] 

In related news, “Indonesia will start clearing residential areas of chickens and ducks as part of its fight against bird flu, government officials said Friday, acknowledging it would be a monumental and difficult task. … No timeframe was given for the plan, which will almost certainly face resistance in a nation that has hundreds of millions of backyard birds, many of them in towns and cities. Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said the measure would be implemented systematically. ‘We will start by demanding that poultry be kept in cages in urban areas,’ he said. ‘If chickens are found walking free, then officials have the right to seize them.’ …” [Dow Jones/Factiva]

“The United Nations on Thursday praised Cambodia for its rapid action in preventing the spread of bird flu, which has killed six people in the kingdom. … David Nabarro, the UN's senior coordinator on avian influenza spent a day in Cambodia, where he reviewed efforts by the government and the United Nations children's agency to educate school children and teachers on detecting and preventing the deadly disease. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Also Reports…

Preliminary estimates released by the World Bank show that Pakistan's poverty rate declined by 5 percentage points in first half of current decade. The Bank's World Development Report for 2007 also praises Pakistan as one of top 10 global reformers last year. In a separate report titled ‘Can South Asia End Poverty in a Generation?’ the Bank notes that due to recent economic growth there is more political will and extra money available to tackle key obstacles to eradicating poverty in Pakistan and other South Asian countries.  [Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (Maylasia)/Factiva]

Briefly Noted…

More than 18 million children in Africa will be orphaned by AIDS by the end of the decade if more is not done to combat the pandemic among the continent's overwhelmingly young population, the United Nations said. Millions of children already orphaned or infected by the disease were being overlooked as governments and donors drew up strategies to fight HIV/AIDS. This oversight was hobbling the development of some of the world's poorest countries, it said.  [Reuters/Factiva]

Zambianeeds to maintain its macro-stability and fiscal discipline if the country is to develop to levels that can reduce prevailing high poverty, a World Bank official has said. World Bank country representative Ohene Nyanin was cited by Thursday's Zambia Daily Mail as saying the economic direction embarked by the Zambian government in the past five years was good and should continue.  [Xinhua (China)/Factiva]

Plans for a global fund to help contain rainforest destruction and slash carbon emissions will be unveiled next month by the Brazilian government. The project, by which rich nations would offer financial incentives to developing countries that combat deforestation, will be announced at a November convention on climate change in Nairobi. [The Guardian (UK)/Factiva]

The World Bank warned Bosnia on Thursday over its high level of public sector spending, which it said surpasses almost all other southeast European countries. "General government expenditures relative to gross domestic product are still substantially larger than in countries with similar levels of income per capita and higher than in almost all countries in southeast Europe, while outcomes are in general poorer," said a World Bank report presented in Sarajevo. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

The motives behind decision to withhold fifty million pounds sterling from Britain's contribution to the IMF were set to come under close scrutiny at a select committee meeting Thursday. The UK’s International Development Committee will ask UK’s Hilary Benn's Benn to provide evidence that the UK government is committed to push for institutional reform of the World Bank and the IMF. [BBC News Online/Factiva]

Scientists have found 200 "dead zones" in the world's oceans -- places where pollution threatens fish, other marine life and the people who depend on them. The United Nations report released Thursday showed a 34 percent jump in the number of such zones from just two years ago. [The Associated Press/Factiva]

The world is not doing enough to combat global warming which, left unchecked, could trigger a mass movement of people and have serious consequences for security, the United Nation's environment chief said on Thursday. "For those of us who look at the science and look at the indicators, it's not enough yet, but it is more than we would have hoped for maybe a few years ago," Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, said. In an interview with Reuters, he raised the possibility of climate refugees and the huge disruption this could cause. [Reuters/Factiva]