GDB, Act Globally, Think locally

"I think it would be a mistake though, at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we're just looking after ourselves and not concerned with world trade." -- US President Barack Obama, responding to international criticisms of a "Buy American" clause in his economic recovery plan. In a television interview, Obama said he wanted to avoid protectionist measures which could spark a trade war. The US Congress is currently discussing plans to ensure that only US iron, steel and manufactured goods are used in projects funded by the economic recovery bill. Earlier this week, the European Union and Canada said the clause could provoke protectionism and spark retaliatory measures. Critics say it could violate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and a World Trade Organization (WTO) government procurement pact. "Buy local" measures by governments will jeopardize export sector jobs and risk setting the world on a damaging downward spiral of beggar-thy-neighbor protectionism, the head of the WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has warned.
Four actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and three improved in January 2009, according to the International Crisis Group's (ICG) monthly bulletin "Crisis Watch." Hundreds of civilians were killed and more wounded in Sri Lanka, as government forces there made continued decisive gains against the LTTE rebels in the north. Israel intensified its military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with devastating consequences for the civilian population, while up to 100 were killed in two days of violent anti-government protests in Madagascar. For February, CrisisWatch identifies the situations in the Congo (DRC) and Sudan as both conflict risk alerts and opportunities for conflict resolution. The situation improved in Zimbabwe, where after four months of political deadlock that followed a stalled power-sharing agreement, the opposition MDC agreed to form a government of national unity with President Mugabe’s ZANU-PF. The deal raised hopes that the country might be able to address a disastrous humanitarian situation and undertake pressing social and economic reforms. The situation also improved in Bangladesh, where a newly elected government was sworn in on 6 January, bringing an end to two years of a military-backed caretaker government, although local council elections this month were marred by irregularities and some violence.
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UN, NGO and General News Round-Up The world's biggest gathering of leftist activists ended on Sunday, after six days of discussions and protests that participants said showed there was an alternative to a crumbling global capitalist system. The World Social Forum brought about 100,000 activists to the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem ranging from communists railing against US "imperialism" to environmentalists and more moderate socialists, Reuters reported. Timed to coincide with the Davos meeting of business leaders in Switzerland, this year's Forum attracted a record number of government leaders keen to burnish their leftist credentials in the wake of the global financial crisis.
The number of trucks allowed by Israel to enter Gaza daily to deliver much-needed relief supplies remains insufficient, the UN reported Feb. 3. Further, the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that only a limited array of items are being permitted to enter through the crossings. Although the Israeli authorities have assured aid agencies that the crossing would be opened to let 150 trucks through daily, capacity has not topped 120 truckloads. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the murder of a UN worker in western Pakistan and joined the world body’s top refugee official in calling for the immediate release of another staff member apparently abducted in the same attack. Unidentified gunmen attacked the vehicle used by Syed Hashim and John Solecki, who both worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as they drove to the agency’s office in the city of Quetta. Hashim, who was driving the vehicle and had worked for UNHCR for some 18 years, was shot and later died, while Solecki was apparently snatched from the car. UN Member States have so far failed to provide nearly enough troops to reinforce the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since the Security Council called in November for 3,000 additional peacekeepers in the face of mounting violence in the east of the vast country. Voicing regret at the results in a letter to the Council’s President, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed his appeal to troop- and police-contributing countries to come forward with essential offers. A UN aid agency accused Hamas policemen on Feb. 4 of seizing hundreds of food parcels and thousands of blankets it had planned to distribute to 500 families in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported. Hamas Welfare Minister Ahmed al-Kurd denied the accusation, in a burgeoning dispute that could affect the delivery of essential aid in the Hamas-ruled territory hard-hit by Israel's recent 22-day offensive. "Over 3,500 blankets and 406 food parcels were confiscated from a distribution store at Beach Camp in Gaza by police personnel," the UNRWA said in its first such statement since a ceasefire went into effect on Jan. 18.
The UN Security Council Feb. 3 voiced concern over the growing violence in Somalia, while it commended the Horn of African country’s lawmakers on the recent election of their new President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. “Council members expressed their concern regarding the humanitarian situation in Somalia and condemned the violence directed at civilians, AMISOM [the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia] and humanitarian personnel,” said Amb. Yukio Takasu of Japan, which holds the rotating Council presidency for this month. According to the UNHCR, some displaced Somalis have recently returned to the capital, Mogadishu, for the first time in two years.IMF, World Bank & IFI Round-UpThe African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Feb. 3 it would triple its lending to African countries to help the world's poorest continent fight the impact of the global financial crisis. AfDB President Donald Kaberuka told an African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia the bank would take four steps to support vulnerable nations, including a USD 1.5 billion emergency liquidity fund and a USD 1 billion trade finance facility. “Africa has gone through two decades of structural adjustment and hard work,” he said. “For the last six years we have begun to bear the fruit. Now suddenly (we're suffering) this crisis, which is not of Africa's making.” Developing countries accused the European Union on Feb. 2 of seeking to use tough intellectual property laws to seize generic drugs, putting lives at risk in emerging nations where the cheaper medicines are often destined. At a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) , Brazil and India criticized the European Union over an Indian generic drug to treat high blood pressure that was in seized late last year while transit in the Netherlands for Brazil.
The World Bank and Japan will launch a new fund to provide capital to banks in emerging countries struggling to cope with the global financial crisis, the multilateral institution said Monday. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank arm, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed the launch agreement. JBIC Chief Executive Officer Hiroshi Watanabe and IFC Chief Executive Officer Lars Thunell signed the accord in a ceremony at JBIC headquarters in Tokyo. JBIC will contribute USD 2 billion to the fund, while IFC will provide USD 1 billion. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecasts for Asia's 2009 economic growth, saying the ‘major downturn’ in the global economy is hitting Asia hard, but that the dynamic region could bounce back quickly if countries take the right policy steps. The IMF expects Asian gross domestic product to grow an average 2.7percent this year, with emerging Asia growing 5.5percent driven by resilient growth in China and India, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a Webcast broadcast in Asia on Feb. 2. As recently as November the IMF forecast Asia would grow 4.9 percent this year.