Ideas for Change - Because the right idea can change the world » Economy

Extractive industries…what’s the problem?

Invited Contributor — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:08:09 +0000

New Routes is a quarterly journal offering analysis and commentary on issues of peace, justice and development as they relate to LPI concerns and programme areas. It includes information about current LPI activities, projects and publications.

The first New Routes issue for 2010 will be a mixed issue with, among other things, an article on UNRWA’s role in Gaza and an article on the xenophobic violence in South Africa.

The second issue is planned to be be a thematic issue with focus on extractive industries and their roots in and effects on conflicts and human rights.
Click here to download the issue

Don’t let it drop

bethamber — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:08:24 +0000

10 years ago world leaders made a promise to fight world poverty … they’re failing… but I won’t let this drop! Will you?

We need a LEGAL agreement in Copenhagen

Ship to Gaza – The world is never black and white

Invited Contributor — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:51:47 +0000

The world talks about the Ship To Gaza issues and all media report on how the peaceful convoy [...] Related posts:

The World Bank

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:56:17 +0000

World Bank is a term used to describe an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to developing countries for capital programs. The World Bank has a stated goal of reducingpoverty.

The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group, in that the World Bank comprises only two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), whereas the latter incorporates these two in addition to three more:^[3]International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), andInternational Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank

http://www.worldbank.org/

Global Warming – Africa

Levis Semakala Ljungkvist — Wed, 05 May 2010 10:16:57 +0000

Global Warming – Africa

Climate situation is critical in Africa where it clearly appears that the arid areas of Africa are becoming even drier and coastal water level is increased and therefore creates a heightened risk of flooding, which altogether cause problems for agriculture and population. If this problem continues to get worse not only the average life span but also the fight against poverty whitch is said to have halved during the year 2015^th. For years the world has tried to help Africa with the economy in an attempt to create a kind of global equality, and where today there is lot of aid organizations such as UNICEF and a lot of others, and then we will have other problems which create an extremely difficult situation for both organizations and Africa.

One might think that despite all the problems of diseases and viruses that Africa has been affected by can be enough, Africa is, after all, a country which is largely innocent of global warming. It is said today that Africa is the continent that suffers most from global warming, it is because Africa has the poorest countries in the world which makes it difficult for countries to work against global catastrophes, unlike Europe, which in all cases, good economy and opportunities to support their country at almost 100%, not only that but also adapt to problems that arise. If we for example were to pretend that there would be a giant wave of water in Europe we could take shelter in our homes because we have a good enought economy to use sustainable materials for buildings, on the other hand, if you would look at Africa’s most building structures you would see that they would not keep so well and therefore creating a higher amount of death counts during a natural disaster. And this is just one of the cases where economy might kick in.

What can the world do about this? Well the question has always been a major problem and say there’s not much Africa can do about it, because they neither cause the global warming effect nor have the economy enough to help other countries in order to reduce the problem, so it is up to other countries trying to help create a good environment for the whole world, which will not only help them but also life span for everything and everyone in the world and a much safer environment. Another problem to be solved is the distribution of the economy so that not only money sent to Africa and disappears on unnecessary things. These measures would then be an attempt to increase democracy in Africa, people also have a large application, and it is after all the people affected. Increased democracy will lead to better economics of distribution, city and state even more global cooperation, which hopefully will create a better environment.

// Levis

Google displays all requests from governments for shutdown

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:57:43 +0000

Government requests directed to Google and YouTube

Like other technology and communications companies, we regularly receive requests from government agencies around the world to remove content from our services, or provide information about users of our services and products. The map shows the number of requests that we received between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, with certain limitations.

We know these numbers are imperfect and may not provide a complete picture of these government requests. For example, a single request may ask for the removal of more than one URL or for the disclosure of information for multiple users. See the FAQ for more information.

http://www.google.com/governmentrequests/

Just received a photo from Palestine

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:30:29 +0000

On both sides of that wall, regular people like me and you are stuck.

I am so proud to tell you about this photo that I received from Palestine. This is what you can see there right now.

No one is alone in this world, not anymore. This project shows how a simple idea can move the world and hopefully bring everyone closer and open the eyes.

Please support our friends at www.sendamessage.nl

Project management on the edge of chaos

Invited Contributor — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:46:07 +0000

Project management on the edge of chaos

by Arne Vestergaard and Marianne Smedegaard

We have for a number of years taught project managers how to manage people and processes. We have heard stories from many different organisations describing numerous ways to understand and execute projects. It seems that there exists not a single correct way to manage projects, but many possible ways. One thing, though, seems to be characteristic of most of the cases. Top management expects the project manager to have complete control over the project and to have answers to any question anyone might want to ask. In many cases it is also a requirement that the project manager ensures that members of the project group have clear goals and that the development of the project is on schedule.

In this paper we want to explore to what extent the effort to control and direct a project is useful, and to what extent a project can be restricted by tight control. Perhaps there are other concepts for project management that better fit with the complexity and variability that characterise projects in today’s world. Perhaps it is preferable to see projects as a living system rather than strategically and bureaucratically.

A change in perspective of this kind would mean that the project organisation must relinquish the idea of having control over the project all the time and, if they do achieve control, see it as a temporary state of affairs. Some degree of chaos then becomes a necessary (but not exclusive) condition for innovation and for handling complexity and change. In other words, the project manager must place the project on the edge of chaos. In this paper we will try to understand what this means in practice.

We are building our funds

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:15:31 +0000

You might have been wondering why we don’t have updated in a while. Thruth is that we are overwhelmed with the interest out there and with our goal to build this site into an active tool.

We are at this point securing funds and creating the plan for the next step of the project. And that is building the tool that really, really uses and put´s your knowledge, input and enthusiasm into the right place.

It will be open, free, usefull and powerfull.

So please have patience and if you will please continue donating. We really need the funds and we are heading toward something great.

Daniel Daboczy

GLOBAL TRADE LOGISTICS IMPROVING, BUT MORE NEEDED TO BOOST RECOVERY

Invited Contributor — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:24:08 +0000

GLOBAL TRADE LOGISTICS IMPROVING, BUT MORE NEEDED TO BOOST RECOVERY

Brazil, China, Bangladesh and Uganda see upgrade in rankings, as Germany tops list

WASHINGTON, January 15, 2010—The capacity of countries to efficiently move goods and connect manufacturers and consumers with international markets is improving around the world, but much more progress is needed to spur faster economic growth and help firms benefit from trade recovery, according to a new World Bank Group survey on trade logistics.

Germany is the top performer among the 155 economies ranked in the Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI), which are included in the report Connecting to Compete 2010: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy. The study is based on the most comprehensive world survey of international freight forwarders and express carriers.

“Economic competitiveness is relentlessly driving countries to strengthen performance, and improving trade logistics is a smart way to deliver more efficiencies, lower costs and added economic growth,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick, who is visiting Berlin January 13 -15 to discuss global development and economic issues. “Streamlining the connections among markets, manufacturers, farmers and consumers offers tremendous growth and investment opportunities and should be a top focus for developing country growth strategies. As we issue this global report, I’m pleased to be in Germany, the top performer on efficient logistics.”

According to the LPI, high income economies dominate the top logistics rankings, with most of them occupying important places in global and regional supply chains. By contrast, the ten lowest performing countries are almost all from the low and lower income groups.

Although the study shows a substantial “logistics gap” between rich countries and most developing countries, it finds positive trends in some areas essential to logistics performance and trade. Some of them include the modernization of customs, use of information technology, and development of private logistics services.

“Following our first survey in 2007, many developing countries have improved their capacity to connect to international markets, which is a key ingredient for competitiveness and economic growth,” said Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. “But if developing countries want to come out of the crisis in a stronger and more competitive position, they need to invest in better trade logistics.”

“Countries with better logistics performance can grow faster, become more competitive and increase their level of investment,” said Bernard Hoekman, World Bank Trade Department Director. “Our research shows that increasing logistics performance in low income countries to the middle-income average could boost trade by around 15 per cent and benefit all firms and consumers through lower prices and better quality services.”

The report, headed by World Bank Group economists Jean Francois Arvis and Monica Alina Mustra, notes that among developing economies logistics performance transcends the level of per capita income: Many countries perform better than what their income level would suggest. The ten most significant over-performers include China (27), India (47), Uganda (66), Vietnam (53), Thailand (35), the Philippines (44), and South Africa (28).

Likewise, the countries with significant improvement in performance between the two surveys (the 2007 and 2010 LPI) are often those which implemented comprehensive logistics and trade facilitation reforms earlier, such as Colombia, Brazil, and Tunisia.

In terms of how developing countries are doing per region, South Africa (28) is the top performer from Africa; China (27) from East Asia; Poland (30) from Central and Eastern Europe; Brazil (41) from Latin America; Lebanon (33) from the Middle East; and India (47) from South Asia.

According to the study, logistics performance is heavily influenced by the quality of public sector institutions and the effective coordination of border clearance processes among all border management agencies. In this area, customs performs better than many other agencies, pointing to the need for border management reforms. In low performing countries, on average, half of the containers are physically inspected and one container out of seven at least twice.

Other areas for improvement include better transport policies, increasing competition in trade-related services such as trucking, freight forwarding and railways; and better trade-related infrastructure. For many low-income countries the most binding constraints are often in logistics services and international transit systems. Given they perform better on many other indicators, improving trade infrastructure is often reported to be a priority for middle-income countries.

The World Bank Group has a number of projects designed to improve trade logistics in developing countries. The US$250 million East Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project improved the corridor infrastructure and upgraded the main border crossing between Uganda and Kenya at Malaba, reducing border crossing times from three days to three hours. In Tunisia, a US$250 million operation is improving competitiveness by reducing trade costs and streamlining border clearance procedures. And in Afghanistan, the Bank is providing funding for a US$31.2 million project to modernize and computerize four major border crossings, increasing customs revenues from US$50 million when the project started in 2004 to over US$399 million in 2008.

In addition, the Bank is working with IBM, Microsoft and the Global Express Association as part of a public-private partnership on “Aid for Trade Facilitation.” The objective is to develop pilot projects in developing countries that apply innovative IT solutions to streamline border procedures.

To access the report under embargo, please visit: www.media.worldbank.org

The report and related material will be available to the public after the embargo expires at:
www.worldbank.org