Extractive industries lead to growth without social benefits

Oil rig in the middle of Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo: Robert Thomson/Flickr)
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The economic growth driven by extractive industries as its main motor, led by increasing commodity prices, “is not benefitting the majorities” of the population of developing countries, according to the Social Watch Report 2012, that will be launched in the middle of December in New York. Read more
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The roots of inequality: Mining profits soar, but Africans are still poor
Profits have ballooned in recent years, but African states haven’t seen their fair share. It’s time to look beyond the woefully inadequate compensation of voluntary corporate social responsibility actions by mining firms in Africa, wrote Yao Graham, co-ordinator of Third World Network-Africa (TWN-A), a pan-African policy research and advocacy organization based in Accra.
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UNCTAD: Only 1% of South’s funds can finance LDCs’ development
South-South cooperation can be conducive to the emergence of an effective and stronger State in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), according to UNCTAD´s most recent report, which proposes a new type of developmental State for LDCs --one that is more appropriate to their specific vulnerabilities and structural constraints.
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CONCORD: ACP countries hit by EU policies
All over the developing world, European Union (EU) policies continue to seriously undermine people's rights, because these policies are not coherent with development objectives. The EU fails to comply with its own treaty obligations, according to a new study released by the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development (CONCORD).
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International cooperation as a “global public good”
International development cooperation “is and must be regarded as a global public good” and with full participation of the civil society, according with the contribution of a thousand Latin American and Caribbean organizations to the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that will be held next week in Busan, South Korea.
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Egyptian organizations propose alternative NGO law
Thirty-nine Egyptian human rights and development organizations have drafted a new law to regulate NGOs and sent a copy to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. The proposed law provides for the autonomy of Egyptian civil society organizations from the state and its administrative apparatus. At the same time, it guarantees the transparent operation of these organizations in terms of their activities and sources of funding.
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