Negotiating Liberalization of Trade in Services for Development
Services trade policies in any country determine the direction of policy reforms and the role which services trade should play in the broader context of growth and development strategies. Regulators taking guidance from these policies introduce the regulatory measures that serve the objectives of such policies. National policies and regulations then inform the positions taken by services trade negotiators to achieve outcomes that are supportive of national policy objectives and national development. In fulfilling their responsibilities policy makers regulators and negotiators need to be mindful of the multilateral trade rules governing international trade in services and related negotiations. The complexity of the subject matter has often been cited as a challenge. The purpose of this publication is to assist trade policy makers regulators and trade negotiatorsin considering their decisions regarding trade in services and services development in the overall national development context. It could also be useful for other stakeholders involved or interested in services negotiations and policymaking including the private sector researchers and non-governmental organizations. The publication seeks to do so by providing a balanced objective and sound analysis of the technical and policy issues about the rules and negotiations on trade in services and explore possible ways to address the above-mentioned challenge especially under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A brief analysis is also conducted regarding services negotiations in the regional integration context.
Pulses and their By-Products as Animal Feed
Humans have been using pulses and legumes in general for millennia. Pulses currently play a crucial role in sustainable development due to their nutritional environmental and economic values. The United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses to further promote the use and value of these important crops. Pulses are an affordable source of protein so their share in the total protein consumption in some developing countries ranges between 10 and 40 percent. Pulses like legumes in general have the important ability of biologically fixing nitrogen and some of them are able to utilize soil-bound phosphorus thus they can be considered the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture. Pulses also play an important role in providing valuable products for animal feeding and thus indirectly contribute to food security. Pulse by-products are valuable sources of protein and energy for animals and they do not compete with human food. Available information on this subject has been collated and synthesized in this book to highlight the nutritional role of pulses and their by-products as animal feed. This publication is one of the main contributions to the legacy of the International Year of Pulses. It aims to enhance the use of pulses and their by-products in those regions where many pulse by-products are simply dumped and will be useful for extension workers researchers feed industry policy-makers and donors alike.
Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2016
Recent Trends and Developments
The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR) is a major annual publication of the Trade Investment and Innovation Division of United Nations ESCAP. It aims to deepen understanding of trends and developments in trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region; emerging issues in trade investment and trade facilitation policies and impacts of these policies on countries' abilities to meet the challenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable development. It offers innovative policy options to meet the challenges of achieving sustainable trade and investment. APTIR 2016 shows that 2015-2016 has been a worrying period for trade and investment n the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide and there are few signs that the current economic and trade slowdown is simply a temporary phenomenon. Instead this pattern may be the result of a change in the fundamental structure of world trade which might lead to a persistent trade stagnation. On the other hand good progress was made especially at the regional level with furthering cross-border paperless trade as one of the approached to deal with the upward pressure on the trade costs. Special feature of this volume is a chapter on digital trade in Asia-Pacific. Accepting the rising importance of e-commerce as a new trade platform there is opening for the possible changes in the focus of trade and investment policies in order to leverage the potential of e-commerce to support intraregional trade.
Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2023/24
Unleashing Digital Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development
Digital technologies are revolutionizing the landscape of international trade and investment. As digital trade gains momentum disparities in readiness are accentuating pre-existing inequalities. Countries and communities that are ill-prepared to seize these opportunities risk losing out on fundamental drivers of contemporary economic growth societal development and environmental conservation. Trade and investment authorities are grappling with a pressing challenge: – How can digital trade and investment policies be crafted to simultaneously drive growth and cater to societal and environmental imperatives? This core inquiry is the focus of the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report "Unleashing Digital Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development." The report jointly prepared by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) delves into both the potential and obstacles associated with digital trade and investment. This report weaves together an integrative policy-making approach particularly enlightening policymakers in trade and investment about the roles they can assume to realize the potential of digital trade and investment as effective means for the achievement of the SDGs. The report seeks to broaden policymakers' perspectives and is expected to stimulate policy dialogues and inter-ministerial and public-private sector collaboration. It advocates for a cohesive strategy at both the global and regional levels to reap greater benefits from digital trade and investment and as well as to maintain focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Statistical Measurement of Tax and Commercial Illicit Financial Flows
Pilot Testing Methodologies for SDG indicator 16.4.1
The 2030 Agenda identifies the reduction of IFFs as a priority area as reflected in target 16.4: “by 2030 significantly reduce illicit financial flows and arms flows strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organised crime”. This target is critical for financing efforts to achieve SDGs. IFFs were also identified as a global priority in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (United Nations 2015) on financing for development which calls for a redoubling of efforts to substantially reduce IFFs with a view to eventually eliminating them. Regardless of its importance data on indicator 16.4.1 “total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows” are not yet reported as part of the SDG indicator framework (United Nations 2017b). Comparable and reliable statistics on IFFs are needed to shed light on the activities sectors and channels most prone to illicit finance pointing to where actions should be undertaken as a priority to curb these flows. This paper was prepared based on process and lessons learned within the United Nations Development Account project on “Defining estimating and disseminating statistics on illicit financial flows in Africa” implemented by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Pilot testing by the following countries provided valuable feedback in future refinement of the methods: Angola Benin Burkina Faso Gabon Ghana Mozambique Namibia Nigeria Senegal South Africa and Zambia.
Cropping System Diversification in Eastern and Southern Africa
Crop diversification is an important policy objective to promote climate change adaptation yet the drivers and impacts of crop diversification vary considerably depending on the specific combinations of crops a farmer grows. This paper examines adoption determinants of seven different cropping systems in Malawi Zambia and Mozambique and the impact of their adoption on maize productivity and income volatility – using a multinomial endogenous treatment effect model. These cropping systems consist in different combinations of four categories of crops: dominate staple (maize) alternative staples legumes and cash-crops. The study finds that relative to maize mono-cropping systems the vast majority of systems have either neutral or positive effects on maize productivity and either reduce or have neutral effects on crop income volatility. In particular cropping systems that include legumes produce better outcome in most cases than those that feature cash crops. From a policy perspective three recurrent determinants of diversification are found. First private sector output market access is an important driver of diversification out of maize mono-cropping. Policies crowding in private output market actors can help to promote a wide range of more diverse cropping systems. Second proximity to public marketing board buying depots discourages the adoption of more diverse cropping systems. Therefore reforms to these institutions must be part of any diversification strategy. Finally in all countries and for all systems land size is a key determinant of adopting more diverse systems. Thus land policy is an integral element of any boarder diversification strategy.
The Repercussions of the Economic Recession in Greece on Adolescents and their Families
Neither Heroines nor Victims
Circular labour migration is frequently portrayed as a gender-neutral phenomenon. Despite the growing literature on the feminization of migration scholarly and policy literature is often gender-blind. In Nepal over the last decade the share of women migrant workers has significantly increased. The National Population Census 2011 shows that about 13 per cent of the absentee population is composed of women. Due to prevailing patriarchal norms and values and skewed policy female labour migration is traditionally stigmatized and associated with sex work or equated to trafficking. However with rising demands for cheap labour (particularly domestic work) in destination countries (for example the Persian Gulf) continued inadequacy of rural employment opportunities and changing aspirations women are increasingly migrating independently. Pourakhi an organization established by women returnees in 2003 has collected more than 1700 case studies on returnee women migrant workers in Nepal. This paper delves into 307 of these as well as a consultation with 14 returnee migrant women from 14 districts to better understand the reintegration process. Rather than focusing on a (necessary) critique of labour markets and on the high human social and financial costs of migration this study aims at giving voice to the subjectivities of migrant women in Nepal as less attention has been paid to this aspect. It unpacks their reasons for undertaking international migration and their struggle for capability to secure a livelihood in the context of globalization.
Impacts of the Global Economic Crisis on Child Poverty and Options for a Policy Response in Cameroon
Children's Work and Independent Child Migration
Principes applicables à des organes communs agissant efficacement pour la coopération relative aux eaux transfrontières au titre de la Convention sur la protection et l’utilisation des cours d’eau transfrontières et des lacs internationaux
Les principes applicables à des organes communs agissants efficacement pour la coopération relative aux eaux transfrontières présentés dans cette présente publication reposent sur des enseignements précieux tirés de l’expérience d’organes communs du monde entier de Parties à la Convention sur l’eau et d’autres États ainsi que d’autres parties prenantes. Ces expériences ont été recueillies à l’occasion d’un vaste processus de consultation mené dans le cadre de la Convention sur l’eau. À sa septième session (Budapest 17-19 novembre 2015) la Réunion des Parties à la Convention sur l’eau a formellement adopté les principes et encouragé les pays à les appliquer. Ces principes ont pour objectif de faciliter la création et les travaux d’organes communs et en fin de compte de contribuer à parvenir à un haut niveau de coopération entre États riverains. Ils sont particulièrement pertinents compte tenu de l’ouverture de la Convention sur l’eau à la signature de tous les États Membres de l’ONU et peuvent aider les pays à appliquer l’une des principales obligations découlant de la Convention.
Impact of food inflation on headline inflation in India
A commonly held belief in the 1970s was that price indices rise because of temporary noise and then revert after a short interval (Cecchetti and Moessner 2008). Accordingly policy should not respond to the inflation because of these volatile components of the price indices. This led to the development of the concept of core inflation (Gordon 1975) which is headline inflation excluding food and fuel inflation. It was strongly believed that in the long run headline inflation converges to core inflation and that there are no second round effects (that is an absence of core inflation converging to headline inflation). In recent years however major fluctuations in food inflation have occurred. This has become a major problem in developing countries such as India where a large portion of the consumption basket of the people are food items. Against this backdrop in the present paper an attempt is made to measure the second round effects stemming from food inflation in India using the measure of Granger causality in the frequency domain of Lemmens Croux and Dekimpe (2008). The results of empirical analysis show significant causality running from headline inflation to core inflation in India and as a result the prevalence of the second round effects. They also show that food inflation in India is not volatile and that it feeds into the expected inflation of the households causing the second round effects. This calls for the Reserve Bank of India to put greater effort in anchoring inflation expectations through effective communication and greater credibility.
Hirschman’s view of development, or the art of trespassing and self-subversion
This article analyses the work of Albert Hirschman from the standpoint of two basic concepts: trespassing and self-subversion. Hirschman turned these exercises into an art pleading his case in a manner which combines curiosity and intellectual humility. In a world accustomed to think and think of itself through totalizing models in a continent where so many ideological models which sought to open up (or rather force open) the realities of countries were put together and taken apart Hirschman’s works and intellectual attitude represent a healthy and beneficial invitation to take a different view. This is not his only merit however. From Chile to Brazil from Mexico to Argentina he passed on his passion for the possible to more than a few admirers. In the last few years a great many ministers academics and leading members of international organizations have repeatedly praised his contributions. Likewise many of the concepts developed by Hirschman -his “exit voice and loyalty” triptych the notion of the “tunnel effect”- and above all his propensity to think in terms of the possible and his efforts to trespass over and subvert theories (including his own) paradigms and models and all the cubist and minimalist mental exercises that are constantly created and recreated are healthy sources of inspiration and interpretation for rethinking the never-ending quest for development. Lastly notions like community participation or social capital which are now major subjects of discussion can also be better appreciated subverted and self-subverted in the light of Hirschman’s work.
Creating capabilities in local environments and production networks
In the new international setting which is characterized by new technologies that make intensive use of information globalization of markets and the increased competitive pressures and uncertainty facing the agents competitiveness is a systemic phenomenon. The endogenous capabilities of the agents the degree of development of the environment they operate in and their integration in a production network have become key elements for developing capabilities and creating competitive advantages. It is being asserted more and more frequently that the competitive advantages of countries regions and agents do not necessarily derive from their factor endowments but can be constructed through the development of endogenous capabilities and linkages with other agents. In the transition from static to dynamic advantages the capacity to learn –conceived as an interactive process imbuing the whole of society– plays a key role. The present article analyses what the endogenous mechanisms for the creation of capabilities and the conversion of generic knowledge into specific know-how are and what they depend on at the level of the individual agents production networks and the various local environments. Reference is made to the importance attached by economic theory in recent years to the relation between technology and learning processes especially in the Schumpeterian and evolutionary approaches. The way in which the economic agents learn transform generic knowledge into specific know-how and link up codified and tacit forms of knowledge is addressed and finally it is emphasized that these processes are not the result of the natural linear development of production systems but are the consequence of a long evolutionary learning process.
Smart Sustainable City Profile for Goris, Armenia
Cities are engines of economic growth; hence the development of countries depends on how their cities will develop in the future. At the same time the expanding cities are vulnerable to economic social and environmental risks and the high level of urbanization presents serious challenges for sustainable development and climate change adaptation. This situation has the potential to become critical and irreversible if not acted upon soon. To address the major urban challenges UNECE and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) developed jointly with 15 other UN bodies and other partners the Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities. This is a set of 91 indicators which are an important tool to assess the performance of cities in the areas of environment economy social and cultural development and support the achievement of the SDGs at the local level. By using these indicators UNECE develops Smart Sustainable City Profiles with concrete recommendations for actions including priorities for investments into city development. The city profiles when prepared will support local authorities in establishing priority actions for their cities’ development. These initiatives are included in the programme “United Smart Cities” (USC). Goris was selected as the first pilot city for this project upon request from the government of Armenia. The Smart Sustainable City Profile for Goris provides the first case study for this work and could be used as an example that not only other cities in Armenia but cities with similar economic environmental and socio-cultural development can use as a model.
World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021
This is the United Nations definitive report on the state of the world economy providing global and regional economic outlook for 2020 and 2021. A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by a viral pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic spread like a forest fire reaching every corner of the world infecting more than 90 million and killing close to 2 million people worldwide. For several months uncertainties and panic paralysed most economic activities in both developed and developing economies. Trade and tourism came to a grinding halt while job and output losses exceeded levels seen in any previous crisis. In a matter of months the number of people living in poverty increased sharply while income and wealth inequality trended towards new highs. Governments around the world responded rapidly—and boldly—to stem the health and economic contagion of the crisis. Fiscal and monetary stimulus packages were quickly rolled out to save the economy. The crisis responses however entailed difficult choices between saving lives and saving livelihoods between speed of delivery and efficiency and between short-term costs and long-term impacts. Limited fiscal space and high levels of public debt constrained the ability of many developing countries to roll out sufficiently large stimulus packages. This report was produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs the five United Nations regional commissions the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development with contributions from the UN World Tourism Organization and other intergovernmental agencies.
World Public Sector Report 2019
Sustainable Development Goal 16: Focus on Public Institutions
The Paths to Equal: New Twin Indices on Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality
This report centres on the unfinished business of our time: delivering on the promise of gender equality securing the human rights of women and girls and ensuring that their fundamental freedoms are fully realized. To address the empowerment of all women and girls and gender equality the human development approach rooted in capabilities provides a conceptual framework. It pivots on enlarging opportunities for all people equally. As progress towards gender equality stalls the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have joined forces to expand measures that guide national and international policy action research and advocacy on the empowerment of all women and girls and gender equality. The result of this collaboration is the twin experimental gender indices in this report. The first the new Women’s Empowerment Index focuses on measuring women’s power and freedoms to make choices and seize opportunities in life. It is the first UN gender index to include violence against women and girls as a standalone dimension. The second the Global Gender Parity Index assesses the gender gap across four dimensions of human development: health education inclusion and decisionmaking. Together they provide a more complete picture of countries’ progress towards women’s empowerment and gender equality. These indices are a key contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stock-taking moment at the 2023 SDG Summit and a means of furthering efforts to achieve SDG 5 on gender equality.
Feminist Climate Justice: A Framework for Action
The climate crisis is the most pressing issue of our times one that is threatening progress on gender equality and human rights and hindering the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Against this backdrop of rising global temperatures and unfulfilled national pledges women girls and gender-diverse people are mobilizing to demand that their voices be heard in decision-making on climate policy. To answer their demands this paper describes how to achieve feminist climate justice through four interlinked dimensions (recognition redistribution representation and reparation) and the principles of interdependence and intersectionality. It provides practical guidance on what countries need to do to transition to low-emission economies that are resilient to a changing climate while advancing gender equality and recognising the leadership of women girls and gender-diverse people in driving the change that is so urgently needed. In doing so it zooms in on the global food system as just one illustration of how this framework can be applied as well as provides analysis of the major barriers to accountability for gender-responsive climate action and how they can be overcome. The vision for feminist climate justice is of a world in which everyone can enjoy the full range of human rights free from discrimination and flourish on a planet that is healthy and sustainable. With this conceptual framework UN-Women aims to open up space for discussion of feminist alternatives to the status quo and to inform the next edition of its flagship report Progress of the World’s Women on gender equality in the age of climate crisis.
Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region 2020-2021
Realities and Prospects
The present study shows that the economic recovery that started in 2021 with 4.1 per cent growth for the Arab region is expected to continue at 3.7 per cent in 2022 and 3.6 per cent in 2023 for the baseline scenario and 3.9 per cent in both years for the alternate scenario. The extent of economic recovery varies among Arab subregions and depends on the course of the pandemic the speed of vaccination dependency on oil revenues tourism receipts and levels of remittance inflows and official development assistance. For the Arab region as a whole poverty is expected to decline from 26.94 per cent of the population in 2021 to 26.23 per cent in 2023 based on national poverty lines. The region made a slight improvement in closing the gender gap in 2020 but at the current pace of change needs 142 years to reach gender parity. Social protection systems in the region face severe shortcomings in coverage and effectiveness particularly in countries with limited fiscal space and persistent political instability. Arab governments need to pursue tax reforms they initiated a while ago. Qualitative reforms should make tax systems fairer and more progressive with simpler and more transparent administrative procedures for better tax compliance. At the national level reforms should include redesigning tax brackets rationalizing exemptions introducing wealth or property taxes and improving tax data. At the regional and international levels enhanced cross-border tax cooperation is critical to coordinate tax incentives review treaties and reinforce tax transparency.