In good times or bad, there is one commodity which Africa always enjoys in abundance: namely, advice on fiscal responsibility. The real scarcity today is the flow of finance needed to prevent the economic downturn from turning into a human development reversal.
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17 Mar 2009 / Kevin Watkins
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09 Mar 2009 / Eveline Herfkens
Since the Millennium Development Goals were agreed in 2000, many developing countries have made great strides. The world was on track to achieve at least the first Millennium Goal of halving the number of extreme poor, and it was coming close to reaching several other objectives as well. But the present crisis is wiping out that hard fought progress. Poor countries’ access to credit has been reduced, resulting in slower investment and growth; already pitiful overseas development assistance (ODA) levels are falling; and Africa might be robbed of its one chance in a generation to make real progress. In the meantime, the world lacks an effective system of global governance. The three deficits in the system I elaborate below have hampered the structure in the past, but they are especially crippling in the present situation.
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06 Feb 2009 / Kevin Watkins
As governments prepare for the G20 meeting in April, there is one thing you can be sure of: the agenda will be dominated by the global financial crisis. If you’ll forgive the expression, it’s an absolute banker.
So here’s the question. As the financial meltdown continues its journey from the US housing market, through the banking systems and real economies of rich countries and into the lives of the world’s poorest people, when are we going to see a financial rescue package for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?
