South Centre

This Issue of the South Bulletin reflects upon the recently held G-20 Meeting, the upcoming Financing for Development Conference in Doha, and the Climate Change Conference in Poznan. The Editorial by Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre is on “Why the Ecuadorian Proposal May Be a Better Response to Financial Crisis than the G20 Declaration”. Under the “Leader Speak” section you can read some of the messages shared by the Heads of the State of developing countries who participated in the recent G-20 Summit on Financial Crisis in Washington DC. 

Analysis and commentaries appearing in the Bulletin, include on Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Real Issue of Global Sustainability; Poznań Climate Conference: Overview and Submissions by Developing Countries; Doha Financing for Development Talks: What Should Developing Countries Push for?; The Ecuadorian Proposal for a Crisis Response Agenda from the South; and Development Through Choice.

In most African countries, agriculture remains a critical sector for employment. This is particularly the case where countries have a majority of subsistence farmers. The sector is also important if broad based development is to be achieved. Incomes of small farmers must be increased. This will then stimulate demand in the local economy and lead to the production of high value added products.

Conversely, mismanaging the agricultural sector can impact very negatively on countries’ development and can also increase levels of poverty. The latter has in fact been the result of the last twenty years of structural adjustment policies in many African countries. From being net food exporters in the 1970s, the liberalization policies of the 1980s and 1990s led to only small increases in the growth of exports, but exponential growth in terms of Africa’s imports of food products.

South Centre Analytical Note - November 2008

The Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) is often quoted as one of the main controversial points that lead to the failure to the WTO mini-ministerial process in July 2008. Technical divergences relate to key aspects of the design and operation of the mechanism but also strong political divergences among exporters and importers. The purpose of this note is to explain the rationale and origins of the SSM and the main contentious issues in the current debate.

Section I: Focus Piece "The International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT): Is the WHO on the Right Track?".

Section II: Summary of the major developments in the Third Quarter of 2008 on IP related issues at the WTO, WIPO, CBD, WCO, UPU and regional and bilateral free trade agreements.

This Issue of the South Bulletin covers range of issues including global financial crisis, food security and climate change. The Editorial by Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre is on “Neoliberal Obscurantism and its Ill-fated Children”.

Analysis and commentaries appearing in the Bulletin, include South Centre's statement on Revamping the Global Financial Architecture, Leadership in Climate Change Negotiations; Proposal for an Asian Rice Insurance Mechanism; Trading into the Future: A Critique of Washington Consensus-led Development Model; TRIPS and Safeguard Mechanism: Impact of Mailbox Applications on Affordability and Accessibility of Essential Medicines in Post 2005 Phase; and  Can the New African Foundations Level the Playing Field?

 Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre appeared on Al Jazeera TV as a panelist on Riz Khan's show on Financial Crisis and Impact on Africa on 23rd October 2008. He commented that he did not believe that the African continent will be severely affected by the global credit crunch as its economy remained decoupled from global economy. He also pointed to the need for Africa to graduate out of aid dependence. 

Click here for Part 1 of the footage