Some 150 experts conveyed in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital city to come out with an African regional strategy for the development of statistics, in the wake of an unprecedented demand for statistics in Africa.

The need for such a strategy has become more and more pressing, Mr. Ben Kiregyera, Director of the African Centre for Statistics, said in the opening remarks of the workshop, explaining that “Africa is embarking on an exciting and defining era, wherein demand for statistics has never before been greater than they are today.”

“Data planning for statistics development has become crucial and Africa is challenged to assess and prioritize demand and to produce better quality statistics with fewer resources”, he explained.

In a keynote address, the Deputy Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Africa, Ms. Lalla Ben Barka, told participants that the new focus on result-based management has put statistics on the front burner as an essential part of national and regional development infrastructure.

“It has also led to viewing statistics as a development issue rather than just a technical issue. Statistics are needed to inform policy, monitor progress and measure policy impact or results”, she explained.

Explaining the renewed focus on the need to accelerate the development of statistics in Africa, Ms Barka revealed that as part of a process that begin on 2006 within the ECA, the commission identified knowledge management and statistical development as one of its special sub-programmes.

It is part of a planned strategy to reposition the ECA to serve Africa better, but it is also a recommendation by the MGD Africa Steering Group, which calls for the scaling up of implementation of the NSDS to build sustainable statistical capacity in countries in support of MDGs.

The current momentum to accelerate the development of statistics in Africa is testified by the growing number of development partners willing and ready to inject funds into its development.

For example, the representative of the African Development Bank at the workshop, Mr. Mouyelo-Katoula, announced that the Bank has put aside some 30 million USD for statistical capacity building for an initial period of two years - 2009 and 2010.

To sustain the momentum of NSDS, Mr. Mouyelo-Katoula said that stakeholders must hold fast to the overall expected outcome and drive the objectives forward at upcoming events, such as, the Gender Statistics Workshop to take place in Accra, Ghana, in January 2009; we will emphasize the demographic aspects during the symposiums to be held in Luanda in February 2009 and Dakar in November 2009; and in Durban in August 2009 during the Annual Meeting of the International Institute of Statistics.

The three-day workshop is being organized by the African Center for Statistics (ACS), in collaboration with the Paris-based Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21); the German development agency, InWent; and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

It was preceded by a regional gender statistics workshop which was organized from 15 – 16 December 2008 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, to get data producers to internalize gender and mainstream it in national statistical programmes and activities.

Having passed through the tests of the Election Petition Tribunals, Appeal Courts and the Nigerian Supreme Court and confirmed by the Apex Court in Nigeria as winner in the 2007 Elections, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of Nigeria was today elected as the new Chairman of ECOWAS.

The President took over from the out-going Chairman and President of Burkina Faso, President Blaise Compaore at the 35th Ordinary Session of the Authority of the Heads of States and Governments of ECOWAS on Friday December 19 in Abuja.


In a communique issued at the end of the summit held in Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital city, ECOWAS leaders called for a regional strategy that would minimize the risks on the regional economy and urged Member States to strengthen the management and structural reform of their economies.

Nigerian President Umar Musa Yar'Adua who was elected Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government for the next one year after taking over from his Burkinabe counterpart, President Blaise Campaore has promised to take ECOWAS to greater heights while he pledged Nigeria's commitment to the expansion and increased effectiveness of the sub-regional body.

The meeting approved the appointment of three new judges for the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to replace those due to retire early 2009 from the Court. Justices Mrs Clotilde Medegan Nougbode from Benin, Benfeito MOsso Ramos from Cape Verde and Eliam Monsedjoueni Potey from Cote d'Ivoire will serve for a four-year non-renewable term.

The Heads of Government warned that the global financial crisis could undermine the region's economic recovery and precipitate a reduction in foreign direct investment, remittances from migrant workers and a drop in commodity prices, the mainstay of the economies of most of the Member States.

The summit also discussed the twin issues of regional peace and security, particularly the situations in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire and Niger Republic. They also signed 10 supplementary Acts mostly in the areas of the environment, the management of water resources, community investment code, youth policy and the creation of the West Africa Regional Institute for Regional Integration.

Yesterday was a day that most Nigerians would not forget. For some it looked like Independence, while for others it was a day characterized by injustice and the return of 'status quo' and for the majority of Nigerians, it was business as usual.

Whatever yesterday, was, it would be remembered as a day that the apex court in Nigeria (Supreme Court of Nigeria) delivered the judgment confirming President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress (AC) and retired Major General Muham-madu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) had filled appeal to the court against the ruling of the Tribunal and Appeal Courts on the election of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua as president of Nigeria. The court in the majority judgement said the appeals filed by the two appealants failed and dismissed it in the favout of Yar'Adua.

The Chief Justice of the Federation, Idris Legho Kutigi, Justices Aloysius Katsina Alu, Niki Tobi and Dahiru Musdapher dismissed the appeal while Justices George Oguntade, Aloma Mouktar and Walter Onnoghe found merit in Buhari’s appeal.
Justice Kutigi read the lead judgment arising from the interlocutory appeal in a summary form and allowed the preliminary objection by the respondents, saying it lacked merit, was purely academic and an abuse of court process.

The African Union Commission is deeply concerned over the devastating cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe that has affected close to 16,000 people, and taken the lives of nearly 800 within a few days.

In that regards, The Commission wishes to convey its sympathy and support to the Government and People of Zimbabwe, and has pledged a contribution of USD $100,000 to assist the Government in managing the crisis.

The Commission further appeals to Member States of the African Union and the larger international community to stand in solidarity with them and offer the assistance needed during this crucial period.

This a a great message for all Africans to support Zimbabwe and the African Union Commission has taken the lead.

In Umuahia, like across the nation and the rest of the world, Muslims celebrated Sallah, in rememberance of Prophet Ibrahim, whose obedience to the will of God proved enough to preserve them.

It is a day of drinking and eating of rams. I can say I eat my own part of my friends ram without limits.

Thank God for Sallah! Amen.

Experts from the African Union Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) have reiterated the fact that land policy and land reforms are fundamental in addressing issues of poverty, food security and general stability in the African region.

They were speaking at the opening session of a three-day regional consultative workshop on land policy in North Africa. Officials from the AUC, UNECA, and AfDB underscored the urgent need to build solid partnerships for land reforms in Africa.

Dr. Josue Dioné, Director of the Division of Food Security and Sustainable Development at the ECA, said that “many parts of the continent are riddled with conflicts related to failures in systems for land governance, control and use”.

Mr. Peter Mwanakatwe of the African Development Bank drew a link with the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, including the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment and explained that they are interwoven with land use.

Dr. Abebe H. Gebriel of AUC spoke on behalf of Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture. He pointed out that “in order to ensure that land policy and agrarian reforms address pertinent issues in Africa, we must recognize the need for a policy framework that addresses issues related to state sovereignty over land; the unequal distribution of land resources, the dualistic nature of property systems, land tenure… and land issues in the post-colonial reconstruction”.

The Addis Ababa workshop is the sixth in a series of regional stakeholder consultations aimed at coming out with a consensus document to be tabled at the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government during its July 2009 Summit.

There have been regional consultations for Southern Africa in Windhoek, Namibia (29-31 August 2007); Eastern Africa in Kigali, Rwanda (16-18 January 2008); West Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (15-18 April 2008) and Central Africa in Yaounde, Cameroon (6-8 August 2008).

The current workshop hopes to reach consensus on the revisions to finalize the regional background document on land policy in North Africa.

It will also discuss specificities initiatives that should be included in the continental framework.

The key outcome of the regional consultation will be an enhanced regional background document whose elements will enrich the draft continental framework and guidelines, and inputs to the development of relevant benchmark indicators.

The initiative started with a Continental Consultative Workshop in 2006 that discussed major land policy issues and has gone through several phases of assessments and stakeholders consultations leading to the drafting of the “Framework and Guidelines”.

It is supported by the African Union Commission, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank.

On December 1, Development Generation Africa International members joined the rest of the world in observing the World AIDS Day 2008.

At the occasion, the organization launched the Primary ABIA Project against HIV/AIDS to look into the plight of young people living with HIV/AIDS especially in the areas of nutrition and empowerment.

Director of Health-HIV/AIDS of the organization, Christopher Ezemobi who addressed participants stressed the need for the World AIDS Day event to lead, empower and deliver young people from the grip of AIDS in the 21st century and promised that the project will go a long way to present their plight to the people and involve them in solutions.

He said some of the problems being highlighted by young people living with HIV/AIDS is an indication that “We must continue to speak up openly about AIDS. No progress will be achieved by being timid, refusing to face unpleasant faces, or prejudging our fellow human beings. In the ruthless world of AIDS, there are no us and them…and in that world, silence is death.”

Children, young people and civil society groups attended the event as well as government officials.

Change...
Change...
Change...
That is what happened
That was what Obama preached.
Peace...
Peace...
Peace...
Not heard
Change is coming..
It truly came
Change...
Change...
Obama changed.
That is a new concept in America
Change...
Let's laugh for change.
Change is possible.
Change...
We are all change.
New order in America
Change will change thinks
Change...
Fix America and renew hope
Change is permanent.
Change is Obama...
Celebrate Change first.
Then ask questions
Because Change is change.
Change...
Now that it is on ground.
Change will rebuild America
Change...
In my little opinion.
Change proved me wrong, and...
Change...
Only Change...the real change.
Change is definitely going to change things
Change is as of the beginning.
Change is Obama, the 'change-bearer'
The "Change-maker of America"
Change...
Truly came to America
Like never before...
Change! Change! Change!
That name is good---

No permanent babus for the US president to deal with - Yahoo! India News: "No permanent babus for the US president to deal with

Fri, Nov 7 11:05 AM

Washington, Nov.7 (ANI): Imagine not inheriting a permanent bureaucracy. Freedom to bring in your own babus. It is every Indian politician's dream. Here in 'the land of the free', it is a privilege that the President enjoys. He is not encumbered with a permanent bureaucracy. So on January 20th, when President elect Barack Obama becomes President Obama, he will bring with him a whole new team."

The above is an extract of an article that I came across on Indian Portal of Yahoo.

I am really surprised at the Anti-Indian tone in the article. Looks like the Author does not have enough knowledge of the happenings, rather, would like to feign so.

India is one of the Bureaucratic countries with lot of policies, and has made a place for itself in the world, with its Bureaucracy and policies. Its true that there are lot of visible differences in the governing. How about the invisible similarities? And for those people who say that the system is better here in USA, I would say that the life is much better in India.

You have many freedoms and there are no bills that watch the steps of an individual. While people who commit crimes cannot escape here, there are many innocent people who cannot escape the eyes of non-innocent, using the same technology. An identity of the person is based on the records stored in a computer, and if they are lost, the identity is lost. The bright side here is that, if you mind your business, take care and get into a good job, the life here is peaceful and serene. You can spend vacations at good places making use of deals, visit India with pomp and grandeur, thanks to the difference in Monetary conversion.

There are many things that are better in India, and it would be better if these columnists highlight the good things of India. I would say that every country has its good and bad, just like every individual has both the characteristics imbibed in them. It all depends on the outlook, and media should be playing a positive role on this, instead of making things hard.

Ethiopia, a country of chronic food shortages and malnutrition, has launched an agriculture commodity exchange in a daring experiment to raise food production by creating a safe, transparent agriculture market.

The idea to create a commodity exchange was hatched by a former senior economist at the World Bank, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, who was born in Ethiopia and educated in the United States. Gabre-Madhin did her doctoral research on the role of markets in developing countries and refined her ideas while at the International Food Policy Research Institute. She now is the chief executive of the exchange.

Gabre-Madhin said the Ethiopian government began to consider a commodity exchange after the food crisis in 2002-2003; a bumper crop and price collapse in 2002 were followed by drought that threatened 14 million people with starvation the next year.

"In the bumper harvest, prices fell so low that farmers could not repay their loans, despite abundant production. The next year, not enough food was produced to feed the population. This led the government to think about the market: 'Why don't people store grain from year to year? Why can't the market deliver in bad times and save in good times?'" she said.

Although Ethiopia is the biggest grain producer in Africa, its traditional markets are small because of narrow networks of trust among buyers and sellers. "Most farmers trade within 12 kilometers of their farms and only with people they know," Gabre-Madhin said. She said more than two-thirds of farmers have faced contract defaults, and only 4 percent have received legal enforcement of contracts.

In the traditional trading system, grain changes hands four to five times between producer and consumer. With each change, the grain is put into new sacks. This system enables buyers to know what they are getting in terms of quality and quantity, as the contents are inspected and weighed, but it is vulnerable to price shocks.

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange began operating in April, creating transparency and predictability in the national market and connecting Ethiopian commodities to international markets.

The U.S. Agency for International Development provided $1 million to launch the exchange.

The exchange provides warehousing, a reliable payment system, real-time market information, and quality control. Producers sell directly to the exchange, which assures payment within 24 hours.

"In the past, truck drivers took payment in envelopes filled with cash. It was never certain if or how much of the money would make it back into the hands of the seller," Gabre-Madhin said. Buyers in the traditional system do not know the quality of what they get unless they open up the sacks and inspect the contents. The exchange has assumed the grading task and guarantees the quality, so a distant buyer can be confident of what he is purchasing.

The Ethiopian exchange is linked to commodity markets around the world, making it possible for a trader in India, for instance, to buy futures of the prized Ethiopian lentils.

As for Ethiopia's major export, coffee, 461 coffee suppliers have obtained one-year memberships on the new commodity exchange.

"We're going to disseminate New York prices on our trading floor, and we'll feed our prices to the New York market. That means if you are looking at Ethiopian, Colombian or Rwandan coffee, you will have a basis for comparison," Gabre-Madhin said.

Agricultural traders have deluged the exchange with applications for membership, which, in Gabre-Madhin's view, is a sign that market confidence is building. "Worries about getting paid and getting the expected quality are being eliminated," she said.

Gabre-Madhin said she expects the exchange will create incentives for farmers to bring more of their produce to market. In the traditional trading system, about one-fourth of Ethiopia's grain is brought to market. She said the goal of the exchange is to handle 50 percent of Ethiopia's grain production in five years.

She said that nearly half of Ethiopia's rural households are net buyers of food. "Poor people buy food as well as sell food, which means that markets matter a lot, even at this low level of income," she said.

The exchange is not without its critics. Some say it will not work as a market institution because government officials occupy six of the 11 seats of the board. Gabre-Madhin believes that the government's involvement with the exchange will help it learn quickly how markets function.

Another concern has been that the exchange will further increase food prices, which have doubled in the past year. If Ethiopia's food-deficient neighbors can buy Ethiopia's commodities, then there will be less food for the country's already malnourished people, critics say.

Gabre-Madhin counters that the exchange is not the panacea for all of Ethiopia's food problems, but it is an important element for a functioning agriculture-based economy.

Brazil will host the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings in 2008.

What is The G-20?

G-20 is an important forum to promote dialogue between advanced and emerging countries on key issues regarding economic growth and stability of the financial system. Brazil’s chair to this group aim to consolidate previous efforts and to give a stronger impetus towards a more balanced and stable environment for global economic.

Since 1999, the G-20 has contributed to strengthen the international financial architecture and to foster sustainable economic growth and development. In 2004, for instance, members agreed to the G-20 Accord for Sustained Growth and committed to standards of transparency and fiscal governance in order to combat abuse of the financial system, money laundering and terrorism financing. Moreover, the forum has dealt with financial crises, international co-operation policies and reform of international financial institutions.

For 2008, Brazil proposes dialogue on Competition in Financial Markets, Clean Energy and Economic Development and Fiscal Elements of Growth and Development. To follow with the discussions, there will be three technical workshops in the first semester and two Deputies Meetings. The objective of these meetings is to provide an updated view on those themes that will be further discussed on the Ministers' and Governors' Meeting.

As is usual practice, the organization of the G-20 events during the year will be shared between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank. This year the G-20 will work closely with South Africa and United Kingdom, and other G-20 members, whose valuable experience will help promote a successful term. South Africa, i believe would promote the African peoples interests.

I am optimistic this forum can make clear its objectives and give young people a space to express, but would the proposed dialogue fail, what is our hope and future? We are expectant that the G-20 would make aFRICAN DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH A PRIORITY IN THE FACE OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS!

Helping to increase the food production of farmers in 25 to 30 of the countries most vulnerable to food shortages is a key aim of the United States' increased focus on agricultural development and food aid, says Josette Lewis, the top agriculture official of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

More than 920 million people worldwide do not get enough to eat. In 2007, the number of undernourished increased by 75 million because of rising food prices, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Addressing the World Food Prize Symposium held in mid-October in Des Moines, Iowa, Lewis said USAID especially wants to help small farms in sub-Saharan Africa double their yields of rice, maize and other staple crops by 2015 and increase farm incomes. The international community agreed in 2000 to a goal of cutting in half the number of people living in poverty and hunger around the world by 2015.

Cutting hunger and poverty in half is "an achievable goal," Lewis said, and one envisioned in proposed legislation now before Congress that would significantly increase U.S. support for agriculture development.

Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania have proposed $10 billion in new funding for international agriculture programs. For the period 2008-2009, the United States has committed $5.5 billion in foreign food and agricultural assistance.

The United States wants to "strengthen every link of the food-value chain," including agricultural research and information sharing, credit programs for small farmers and the use of new high-yield seeds that are resistant to diseases and drought, Lewis said.

Lewis said the United States will support more training programs for farmers in developing countries to help them use modern food-production techniques.

The training will help developing countries reduce by 75 percent their reliance on food aid, she said.

Lewis said USAID also is focusing on improving the nutritional value of the food aid it gives for children under age 5 and is refining its community-based nutrition monitoring programs. In addition, USAID is refining its forecasting tools to obtain better information on where a food emergency is likely to occur.

The United States is already working with other donor nations on the implementation of a strategy presented in June at an international forum in Rome to address the food crisis. That includes providing immediate aid to countries most vulnerable to rising food prices. Between 2007 and 2008, global food prices rose 52 percent, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.

The U.S. strategy also includes encouraging policies that can expand regional trade in farm products and ease infrastructure constraints such as poor roads and border checkpoints that slow trade, Lewis said.

In the long run, USAID plans to form partnerships with private-sector companies, she said.

She said a number of U.S.-based companies such as John Deere, Land O'Lakes Inc. and the Monsanto Company "have made it clear they are ready to step up" and partner with various organizations to help boost agricultural productivity and reduce poverty in developing countries.

"It's time for a second Green Revolution that enlists a broader array of actors," Lewis said, referring to the first Green Revolution in the early 1970s that increased agricultural yields through development of new varieties of grains. New types of disease-resistant wheat created then are credited with saving more than 1 billion people in Asia from starvation.

Also at the forum, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer and World Food Prize President Kenneth Quinn signed an agreement to enhance information sharing between the two entities and to bring more agricultural scientists and farmers from developing countries to the United States to learn about agricultural technology from their U.S. counterparts.

The $1.2 billion Global Food Response Program (GFRP) - the World Bank's fast-track food crisis initiative - was created in May 2008 to rapidly disburse assistance to countries hardest hit by the food crisis.

"Hunger knows no boundaries," said Africa Region Vice President Obiageli Ezekwesili. "All across the African continent, poor people are bearing the brunt" of soaring food prices.

As of end-September 2008, the World Bank has approved $83 million in GFRP financing to ten Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries: Burundi, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Somalia. In addition, $100 million in IDA financing has been approved or reallocated for eight countries: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Malawi, Togo, Eritrea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Madagascar. Through these projects, farmers are receiving seeds, fertilizers, and technical expertise. School feeding programs are also being launched, and food safety nets targeting vulnerable groups are being created. The Bank expects to provide a total of more than $800 million in financing to the GFRP.

The GFRP is based on several dimensions:
across time-thus addressing short-term and medium-term needs;
across sectors-such as agriculture, health, social protection, energy; and
across instruments-budget support to help mitigate short-term financial stresses; safety net programs for the most vulnerable; and investment lending to stimulate an agricultural supply response.

A basic principle of the GFRP is that a country can select from a large comprehensive menu of possible interventions, depending on its specific needs. The Bank provides detailed technical guidance appropriate to these interventions. A sample of interventions in SSA includes:
Food Distribution to School Children and Other Vulnerable Groups
In Liberia ($10 million disbursed), monthly distributions of 300-400 tons of food targeting more than 60,000 school children in five counties started at the beginning of the school year in October, 2008. Distributions of food rations for pregnant and lactating women attending clinics and hospitals have also started.

In Burundi ($10 million disbursed), the WFP has been implementing a school feeding program in six provinces (out of 17) in the country. The GFRP grant makes it possible to provide 120,000 additional students in 60 additional primary schools with hot meals since the beginning of the school year. The Grant has also helped the Government to maintain fiscal stability after the suspension of import duties on 13 basic food items undertaken by the authorities to mitigate the impact of food crisis.

In Sierra Leone ($3 million disbursed), the Bank is providing budget support to partly compensate for lost revenues resulting from reduced tariffs on food and fuel imports. The budget support is creating fiscal space for the Government to provide food to more than 21,000 people, including school children and patients (lactating mothers and children under the age of five) in district hospitals and community health centers. In addition, 78 food-for-work projects will begin shortly; and preparations are underway to distribute 300 to 400 metric tons of food in target communities.
The GFRP is also working for bountiful harvests. In Rwanda, $10 million has been allocated for filling a financing gap for bulk fertilizer purchase and supporting the development of private sector-friendly auctions and voucher distribution schemes. Vouchers for purchasing fertilizers have been distributed to farmers ahead of the fall planting season.

Reform of Food Policies:

In Madagascar ($10 million disbursed), the increase of rice prices has been slowed, due in part to the temporary elimination of VAT on rice. The Bank's budget support operation helped mitigate the fiscal impact of this policy action.

In Guinea ($10 million allocated), budget support from the Bank is supporting the Government's policy to reduce customs duties on rice from 12.75 to 2.75 percent.

In Burundi ($10 million allocated and disbursed), Bank financing has helped mitigate the fiscal impact of the suspension of import duties on 13 basic food items.

Other SSA countries in the pipeline to receive GFRP disbursements include Benin ($9 million for fertilizer); Central African Republic ($7 million, school feeding, inputs, extension, infrastructure); Comoros ($1 million for seeds, risk management, access to credit); Guinea-Bissau ($5 million for safety nets, inputs); Mali ($5 million for budget support); Mauritania ($9 million for inputs, safety nets, irrigation, livestock); Mozambique ($20 million for budget support); Somalia ($7 million, for inputs, irrigation, livestock); Southern Sudan ($5 million for seeds and other inputs); and Togo ($7 million for safety nets, agricultural production).

Women’s full participation in decision-making

The full participation of women in political decision-making at all levels, including their involvement in measures to achieve all other MDGs, is of paramount importance to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. In addition to the political arena, women’s full participation in decision-making positions in the private sector, academia, civil society and the media is also crucial to build synergies across different sectors. Women’s public participation is a human rights issue; women have a right to be represented. Increased women’s participation also ensures that women’s interests are represented in decision-making and their participation widens policy debates and priorities. Research has shown that increased participation of women in decision-making has a positive impact on development priorities and poverty reduction, and that, when empowered, women make decisions that not only have a positive effect on themselves, but the lives of their families and communities as well. Progress in increasing the political representation of women in national parliaments has been increasing at a steady but slow pace, but growth has been uneven across regions. Insufficient data are available on women’s role at local government level as well as on their role in senior positions in other areas, such as the private sector and civil society.

Women’s economic independence

Women’s economic independence is critical to achieving all MDGs, not only MDG3. Even though women’s participation in paid employment outside agriculture has increased, women’s work continues to be characterized by a concentration in low status and low pay jobs, which are often temporary and informal. Globally, gender wage gaps exist and unemployment rates for women are higher than for men. While inequalities continue to define the quality, conditions and characteristics of women’s labour market participation, they also shoulder a disproportionate share of responsibilities at home. Women perform the majority of unpaid work which restricts their access to employment opportunities outside of the home and reinforces the traditional division of labour between women and men. Increasing women’s participation in paid employment is one of the most important strategies for poverty reduction, as is the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship. However, the employment must be based on decent work principles such as labour standards, social protection and recognition of workers’ rights. In addition, it is important to recognize the value of women’s unpaid work, and develop and promote policies that facilitate the reconciliation of employment and family responsibilities for all workers, women and men.

In addition, women’s access to and control over productive and economic resources is central to their empowerment and must be expanded if gender equality is to be achieved. Women’s access to land and property, including through inheritance, is critical to their economic empowerment. Land ownership has direct economic benefits, for example as a source of income, as a key input for production, and as collateral for credit. Without equal access to credit and other financial services, such as insurance or savings, women’s economic empowerment will remain limited.

Issues for discussion

What good practices exist to increase women’s access to decision-making positions at all levels?
What measures need to be taken to increase women’s access to employment opportunities, and access to and control over productive resources?
How can measurement of progress in these areas be strengthened?

Food security experts say international donors' response to the world's food crisis has been inadequate when compared to interventions to contain the global financial meltdown.

"Huge financial resources have been mobilised by the international community in a matter of days" in response to the global financial crisis, wrote Teresa Cavero in a report by the international NGO Oxfam released on 16 October - World Food Day.

While the US government put up US$700 billion to bail out financial institutions in one day, on 3 October, total global development aid for 2007 was $104 billion, according to Alexander Woollcombe, food security advocacy adviser at Oxfam in Dakar.

This year's food crisis threw an additional 75 million people into hunger and poverty in 2007 according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The World Bank estimates there are currently 967 million malnourished people in the world.

FAO says the financial crisis, following on the heels of the food price crisis, could deepen the plight of the poor in developing countries.

Remittances dropping

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf stated in a 15 October news release: "Borrowing, bank lending, official development aid, foreign direct investment and workers' remittances - all may be compromised by a deepening financial crisis."

There are no precise numbers yet about the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, said Josef Schmidhuber, senior economist at the FAO's Global Perspectives Unit, but he noted that when industrialised countries face a crisis, fewer people work and fewer remittances are sent to developing countries.

"We're already hearing noises from Mexico that fewer remittances are being sent back. These [remittances] are more important than credits and foreign direct investment," he stressed.

Mexico receives $22 billion in annual remittances, and Bangladesh $4 billion, according to Schmidhuber. In Haiti and Honduras remittances make up over 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Response 'a slow trickle'

The FAO's Schmidhuber said donors promised $20 billion in aid to agriculture at the Rome FAO conference in June 2008, but according to Oxfam, five months on just $1 billion of this has been dispersed. Oxfam's Woollcombe said this is partly because "it takes time to distribute cash for agricultural production. The problem is it is not clear when or where it is actually coming."

The UN has estimated that $25 billion to $40 billion is needed to lessen the impacts of high food prices on developing countries.

"With the new commitments of the financial crisis, I would not be surprised if we don't get much more than the trickle that has arrived so far," said Schmidhuber.

The UK government's commitment of US$ 1.4 billion pledged at the Rome meeting still stands, said Matt Wells, spokesperson for the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

"Yes, there are challenges we are all facing, but we are continuing to call on other donors not to let the economic crisis deflect the fact that we need to remain focused on supporting those most in need," Wells told IRIN.

Building up resilience

To boost vulnerable people's resilience to crises, Oxfam and the Washington DC-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) stress the need for donors and international finance institutions to support 'social protection' such as aiding access to health and education, which they say will have a knock-on boost on their food-purchasing power.

Such measures could include targeted cash transfers, nutritional interventions, and fee waivers on targeted services, according to an October World Bank report 'Rising food and fuel prices: addressing the risks to future generations.'

It is the erosion of the global food system's resilience that underlies the food price spikes, according to Steve Wiggins, research fellow at the UK-based Overseas Development Institute.

The world needs to replenish severely depleted global grain reserves, which have dropped from 30 percent to 19 percent of annual grain use, Wiggins said. "Rebuilding stocks would help to calm nerves and restore the resilience of the global food system."

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FAO's Schmidhuber said as an alternative to real grain reserves, which are expensive to build and keep up, 'virtual grain stocks' should be developed; developing countries would purchase the right to buy at subsidised prices.

He said such alternatives would lead to a more efficient market that could also protect poor communities, adding that export bans and subsidies in the developed world distort markets and discourage production.

Progress is being made on both sides, he said. "We are starting to see a convergence between the developing and developed world as they shift these opposing approaches."

As the FAO's World Food Security Committee discusses these and other challenges in Rome from 14 to 17 October, Schmidhuber said governments should start by taking a simple step. "They need to do what they've said they are already committed to doing, and deliver the money."