The International Labour Office (ILO) and the Academic Foundation have co-published the book, “Trade and Employment in the Global Crisis”. The study analyzes how cross-border trade has served as a transmission channel, spreading the crisis to developing states. Key topics covered include how changes in trade flows affect the labor market, the role of price [...]
This report released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) analyzes energy-related loan programs at the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the newly-created Clean Technology Fund (CTF). Despite the increase in sustainable energy initiatives, a limited number of loans financed by the World Bank, the IDB and ADB [...]
The World Bank Group today announced open access to its statistical databases and is challenging the global community to use the data to create new applications and solutions to help poor people in the developing world.
Recognizing that transparency and accountability are essential to development, the World Bank Group is now providing free, open, and easy [...]
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has just published the “Trade and Environmental Review 2009/2010: Promoting Poles of Clean, Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries to Enhance Resilience to the Inter-related Economic, Food and Climate Crises.” The report focuses on the 140 plus low-income and least developed countries, which played no part in [...]
The ILO’s Employment Trends Team has just launched the report “Global Employment Trends 2010.” The study reveals that unemployment reached its highest level on record in 2009, with the number of jobless worldwide reaching 212 million. Based on IMF forecasts, the ILO estimates that global unemployment is likely to remain high through 2010.
In the developed [...]
The International Labour Organization and the WTO have just published a joint study titled “Globalization and Informal Jobs in Developing Countries.” The report has found that the high incidence of informal employment in the developing world suppresses countries’ ability to benefit from trade opening by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition. This study [...]
This report from the World Research Institute provides an overview of the current landscape, lending practices, and principal challenges of financial intermediaries providing capital to sustainable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. The report defines sustainable SMEs as those whose core business produces a triple bottom-line return —that is, social, environmental, and financial [...]
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN has just launched its latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report, which warns about the effects that high food prices are having on millions of people in developing countries. Among the causes of the rising food prices, the report listed reduced harvest, higher or delayed imports, [...]
The UN Economic and Social Council has just published the Millennium Development Goals Report 2009. The study assesses the progress towards fulfilling the MDGs, which established quantitative benchmarks to halve extreme poverty in all its forms. Despite many successes, progress towards achieving the goals is now threatened by sluggish economic growth, diminished resources, fewer trade [...]
The “Aid for Trade at a Glance 2009: Maintaining Momentum” report has been released by OECD and WTO during the Second Global Review on Aid for Trade. The report presents the results of the second monitoring exercise of the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. An analysis of partner country and donor engagement trends in aid-for-trade flows and developments [...]
