Amandla

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will be holding a High-Level Expert Forum on How to Feed the World in 2050 at its Rome headquarters October 12-13. The FAO is in the process of preparing several issues briefs to serve as starting points for the Forum, including:

• Global agriculture towards 2050 (pdf, news release)
• The technology challenge (pdf, news release)
• The special challenge for sub-Saharan Africa (pdf, news release)

The FAO has also released a number of expert papers commissioned to provide technical background material for the Forum.

UN Pulse Permanent Link: How to Feed the World in 2050

iMFdirect is a group blog covering the global economy and policy issues, produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the United States. It posts content related to the IMF s work in economics and finance at global or national level, and posts currently highlight the debate over policy responses to the biggest global recession since the Great Depression. It covers topics such as financial regulation, economic growth, LICs (low income countries), emerging markets and debt relief. The blog includes links to recent comments and postings, a blogroll of links to related blogs, access to items by subject / tag and links to other IMF content. http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/  From Intute.ac.uk

Angus Reid Global Scan is a component of Angus Reid Consultants an international partnership dedicated to exploring and understanding public opinion at the regional, national and global level. Since 2003 it has provided free access to public opinion polls and election tracking from nations worldwide. This section of the website contains polls relating to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. These cover assessments and perceptions of her performance since approximately 2004, voting intention trends and coverage of political parties and elections in Germany. Many of the entries are summaries of research reports; however each entry offers full bibliographic references and some detail on poll data methodology. They include examples of polls taken by German national newspapers and research companies. http://www.angus-reid.com/issue  From Intute.ac.uk

"STICERD, a research community of economics and political science based at London School of Economics (LSE)

... aimed at economists and political scien[tists] ...

There are 11 series of papers that can either be browsed of searched, including the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), Distribution Analysis Research Programme (DARP), Development Economics, Economics of Industry, Economics Organisation and Public Policy, International Studies, Econometrics, Japanese Studies, Political Economy and Public Policy, Theoretical Economics and Occasional papers."

From FreePint

 

 

The International Growth Centre (IGC) "promotes sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research". The IGC is directed and organized from hubs at the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford and comprises country offices across the developing world and a global network of partners. The IGC was initiated by and is funded by DFID (Department For International Development). Research is carried out across ten programmes from agriculture to trade, while country based information currently features Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. The website includes more information on the work, events and people of the IGC, as well as listing recent documents, audio interviews and news items. http://www.internationalgrowthcentre.org

From Intute.ac.uk

Exploring EU foreign policy resource guide

http://soc.kuleuven.be/iieb/eufp/

This excellent resource guide is coordinated by Stephan Keukeleire Professor in European Foreign Policy at the University of Leuven. It serves as a guide to researching EU foreign policy for students as well as a companion to the textbook The Foreign Policy of the European Union by Stephan Keukeleire and Jennifer MacNaughtan (Palgrave 2008).It is divided into a number of thematic topics including: the history of EU foreign policy, the key actors, EU policy making processes, the EU Common Foreign and Security policy and beyond. Each section highlights and provides links to key EU documents, organisations and key research institutions. It also offers free access to PowerPoint presentations, Updated figures and tables on EU foreign policy and classroom resources for teachers associated with the textbook. Copyright and technical information is displayed on the website.From Intute.ac.uk

Policy, Law, Economics and Politics - Deepening Democracy through Access to Information  18th September 2009

 
Publication of explanatory summary of the Protection of Personal Information Bill, 2009 (Gazette No 32495 – Notice 1107)

Provincial Budgets and Expenditure Review 2005/6 - 2001/12 (September 2009)
This Review from the National Treasury indicates that provincial expenditure is growing strongly in real terms despite the economic slowdown and its concomitant negative impact on fiscal policy.
Strengthening the Global Partnership for Development in a Time of Crisis (September 2009)
The 2009 report of the Millennium Development Goal Gap Task Force indicates that donors are falling short by $35-billion a year on the 2005 Group of Eight pledge on annual aid flows, and by $20-billion a year on aid to Africa.

Strengthening the Global Partnership for Development in a Time of Crisis (September 2009)

The 2009 report of the Millennium Development Goal Gap Task Force indicates that donors are falling short by $35-billion a year on the 2005 Group of Eight pledge on annual aid flows, and by $20-billion a year on aid to Africa

Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (September 2009)
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict reports evidence of serious violations of human rights committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict, amounting to war crimes and possibly crimes against

Building Working Class Hegemony on the Terrain of a National Democratic Struggle (September 2009)
The South African Communist Party Central Committee's discussion paper provides a programme of action for the working class and popular struggle, as well as the democratic State.

HOT SPOT
Reflections on Green Paper on national strategic planning
National strategic planning holds huge promise. It could unite many parts of South Africa in moving towards a common national vision of development. Much depends on how it will be implemented. But, in this case, the plan is coming straight from...

SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Do the EU and South Africa Speak the Same Language of Peace and Security in Africa?
Promoting peace and security in Africa is one of the goals of the EU-South Africa strategic partnership. Ongoing conflict in Darfur, Sudan and the crisis in Zimbabwe were high on the agenda of the 1st EU-South Africa summit held in July last year...

INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Why stake the credibility of Transnet on someone with disciplinary charges?
There is an ugly spat brewing at Transnet. It's one which is not unlike some of the others taking place in various institutions across the country where the interests of party and state continue to collide in a messy and undermining way. Transnet...

INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES
Challenges to the Rule of Law in South Africa Since May 2008
South Africans have watched an unseemly and often confusing legal wrangle between what appear to be sectional interests in the legal profession. Initially the matter centered on accusations by Constitutional Court judges that Judge...

Discourse on the origin and the foundations of inequality among men

http://www.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/download.htm?uri=lll-2524-1&type=coll  

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), the famous French philosopher and writer, prepared his Discourse on Inequality (also called the Second Discourse) as an entry in a competition organized by the Academy of Dijon in 1754. He had won first prize in a previous competition (in 1750) with his Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts (the First Discourse), a victory which had helped to make him famous. The Second Discourse did not fare so well in the contest. When the Second Discourse was published again in 1782, Rousseau inserted a few short minor additions into the text. These are included here but are not indicated. The resource is available via the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) website, and can be downloaded as a zipped HTML file.From Intute.ac.uk

This website is maintained by Prof. William A. Joseph, Department of Political Science, Wellesley College. It offers a directory of links suitable for guiding students to important web resources relating to all aspects of development studies. This is sub-divided into a large number of topic areas which include: gender and development, ethno-nationalism; health and development, the environment and development, migration and remittances and rural development. Each contains links to key websites, academic organisations, working paper series. It is also possible to look at websites listed by resource type: these include statistical data, blogs, organisations, audio-visual materials, maps and other publications.From Intute.ac.uk

http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/DevelopmentLinks/development-links.htm

• Policy Responses to the Global Economic Crisis in Africa (pdf)
• The Global Economic Crisis after One Year: Is a New Paradigm for Recovery in Developing Countries Emerging? (pdf)

UN Pulse Permanent Link: Policy Briefs on the Global Economic Crisis

www.polity.org.za

 

2009 IMF Article IV Report on South Africa (September 2009)

The South African Treasury comments on the International Monetary Fund's Article IV Report, assessing the country's...


Government's decision to approve the continuation of reparations litigation in News York courts (September 2009)

The FW de Klerk Foundation says that the South African government's decision to support litigation against leading international companies accused of aiding and abetting crimes committed...

Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times (September 2009)

This report from the International Finance Corporation tracks regulatory reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business. Despite the challenges presented by the financial crisis, the number of reforms hit a record between June 2008 and May...


The NCACC revisited (September 2009)

The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office reports on the National Conventional Arms Control Committee and South Africa's weapons trade.

 

Trade and Development Report, 2009 (September 2009)

This report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development examines the global economic outlook and short-term policy responses to the financial and economic crisis.


    

INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES

South Africa Reaffirms its Support for the ICC

South Africa's early support for the idea of a permanent international criminal court is well known. In particular, its influence at Rome in 1998 where the International Criminal Court's (ICC) statute was drafted has been chronicled widely and.More...

 

 

SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Conquering the sum of American fear: from shock and awe to surge and success? 9/11 eight years on

The world was clear on one issue after the 11 September 2001 terrorist suicide attacks on the United States of America. - the world would never be the same again.

 

INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES

Why Ethics Regulations Continue to Fail SA

Endless media accounts of conflicts of interest situations among public officials reveal two broad failures of South Africa's integrity management system. First, in the unregulated grey zones numerous opportunities for unethical conduct remain....

 

INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Public has right to know if SA sold weapons to rogue regimes

The debate on South Africa's arms trade is once again in the spotlight. The Democratic Alliance's David Maynier has informed the House of his serious concerns regarding possible weapons transactions involving countries with very dubious human...

 

Independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty - report 2009

The report of the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona, has been issued (A/64/279). The report addresses the impact of the global financial crisis on people living in extreme poverty. The mandate of the independent expert is outlined in Human Rights Council resolution 8/11

From UN Pulse Permanent Link: Independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty - report 2009

The recent death of Senator Edward Kennedy marked the end of the long dynasty of the Kennedys, who were not only prominent in domestic US politics but also on the world stage. In this week's Pambazuka News, John Otim reflects upon the relationship that Africa had with the Kennedys. Arguing that much has changed since the decolonisation process and the subsequent Cold War, and most importantly with Africa?s relationship to the US, Otim writes that Africans will mourn the death of a figure who recalled a 'glimmer of hope in a still colonial world'. From Pambazuka News
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/58600

Abahlali baseMjondolo with Sokari Ekine (2009-09-10)

© Abahlali baseMjondolo   Sokari Ekine recently met in London [mp3] with two members of the South African shackdwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, Mnikelo Ndabankulu, a founding member and spokesperson, and Zodwa Nsibande, the general secretary of the Abahlali Youth League. In their interview they were joined by David Ntseng of the Church Land Programme, an NGO based in KwaZulu-Natal province which works on land rights issues. They discuss a range of issues from movement building and successes and the 2008 'Slums Act', to the decision not to vote in national elections and combating xenophobia in South Africa....[More]

From Pambazula News

With much of Africa facing an effective re-colonisation in the wake of the global financial crisis, William Gumede underlines the importance of ever increasing cooperation and trade between African countries. As forces to the east and west alike plunder the continent's mineral wealth, it remains the task of African countries themselves to develop a continental common market and political union based on sound democratic foundations, Gumede concludes. [More]

From Pambazuka News

In April 2001, the Globalization Research Center on Africa was established at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Center was part of the Globalization Research Network, which included similar initiatives at the University of South Florida, George Washington University, and the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Today the Center continues to conduct "research on the dynamics and effects of globalization, with particular emphasis on impacts within Africa." On their homepage, visitors can look at recent news updates ("Africa Globalization in the News") and take a look at their signature projects. These signature projects include the "Global-Link Africa Online Curriculum", which is a multimedia curriculum resource for thinking "about globalization and its relationship with Africa, Africans, and United States-African policy." Users will also want to look through their recent research reports and presentations, which include works on the relationship between African nations and China and water management strategies. [KMG] Scout Report
http://www.globalization-africa.org/index.php

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 446: Partial Content...[More]

A CRITIQUE OF THE STIGLITZ REPORT

The limits of liberal orthodoxy
Samir Amin

Samir Amin is a contributor to Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser?(http://snipurl.com/rkiw8 )
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/58453

AFRICA AND THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
Olivier De Schutter

MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT
Bringing government to the people?
S'bu Zikode

ABAHLALI BASEMJONDOLO AND THE POLITICS OF SPACE
Fanonian practices in post-apartheid South Africa
Nigel C. Gibson

ITALIAN REVELATIONS ON THE ASSASSINATION OF THOMAS SANKARA
Silvestro Montanaro

THE GUINEA-SIERRA LEONE BORDER DISPUTE
Time for ECOWAS to intervene
Lansana Gberie

AFRICA'S EXPECTATIONS OF OBAMA ARE UNFOUNDED
Sehlare Makgetlaneng

Policy, Law, Economics and Politics -
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information

 

King III (September 2009)
The Institute for Directors in Southern Africa and the King Commission have brought out the King III Report and Code of Governance in order to bring South African principles of corporate governance in line with the new Companies Act and changing...[More]

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development v Nyathi and Others [2009] ZACC 12 (September 2009)
The Centre for Constitutional Rights comments on the recent Constitutional Court judgement that granted the State another two years to amend the State Liability Act to allow the attachment of State property in the execution of debt.

False Dawn: The Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Government's Failure to Deliver Human Rights Improvements (September 2009)
Human Rights Watch reports that Zimbabwean police, State prosecutors and court officials aligned to Zanu-PF conduct politically-motivated prosecutions of MDC legislators and activists, and fail to ensure justice for victims of abuses or to hold...[More]

World Economic and Social Survey 2009: Promoting Development, Saving the Planet (September 2009)
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports that the separation in practice of the climate change and development agendas has distorted the global debate on the two biggest policy challenges facing the international...[More]

INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES
Why Ethics Regulations Continue to Fail SA Endless media accounts of conflicts of interest situations among public officials reveal two broad failures of South Africa's integrity management system. First, in the unregulated grey zones numerous opportunities for unethical conduct remain....[More]

INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Public has right to know if SA sold weapons to rogue regimes The debate on South Africa's arms trade is once again in the spotlight. The Democratic Alliance's David Maynier has informed the House of his serious concerns regarding possible weapons transactions involving countries with very dubious human...[More]

INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES
The Controversy Over the ICC Beyond the Polarizing Political Context Since the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced his intention to prosecute Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir on 14 July 2008 and Bashir's indictment by the ICC in March 2009, the question of the...[More]

SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Gabon: Presidential Election - Time for Change or More of the Same? Gabon goes to the polls to elect a new president on Sunday, nearly three months after the death of President Omar Bongo Ondimba at the age of 73. Bongo was Africa's longest-ruling president, having come to power in 1967. He had won his latest...[More]
 

The World Economic and Social Survey 2009
http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/

The World Economic and Social Survey 2009: Promoting Development, Saving the Planet, was launched today. This flagship publication from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) argues that failing to address the current level of global inequality over the next half century or more, while the world goes about trying to solve the climate problem, is economically, politically and ethically unacceptable. It contends that low-emissions, high-growth pathways for development are both feasible and necessary. Download the report in full (pdf) from the web site.

UN Pulse: Permanent Link: The World Economic and Social Survey 2009 

China's international behavior : activism, opportunism, and diversification
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG850.pdf


Torture archive
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/torture_archive/index.htm

Libya: Guardian newspaper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya

This site is maintained by the Guardian newspaper. It provides free access to newspaper stories, comment and analysis about Libya from Guardian journalists. This includes blog postings, photographs, film and audio clips of significant interviews. Topics covered include international security, terrorism and Libya; the Lockerbie case and controversy surrounding the conviction and appeal of alleged suspect Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and the rule and politics of Colonel Gaddafi. Copyright and technical information is displayed on the website.

Libya : Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/libya

This site is maintained by leading human rights group Amnesty International. It provides free access to its statements, press releases and full text reports about human rights in Libya. This includes coverage of human rights violations and repression under the rule of Colonel Gaddafi and the state of democracy in general. Publications from approximately 1970 onwards are available.

Libya: Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/libya

This site is maintained by leading human rights think tank Human Rights Watch. This section provides free access to its press releases, statements and reports relating to Libya. Topics covered include human rights under the rule of Colonel Gaddafi, the treatment of refugees, and issues relating to Libya, the war against terrorism and the Lockerbie bombing case. Materials from approximately 2002 onwards are accessible.

Afghan presidential elections: a mirror of self-deception
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SA004.pdf

This site provides free access to a briefing by Antonio Giustozzi which was published as an LSE IDEAS report in 2009. The 2 page document offers an immediate summary of the conduct of the 2009 Afghan presidential elections and its potential impact.

From Intute.ac.uk