South Centre in Media: Africa: The Committed Intellectual - Reviving And Restoring the National Project

South Centre appears at AllAfrica.com:

A man or woman with no passion has no heart; one with no power of reasoning has no mind, writes Yash Tandon.

It is the combination of heart and mind that produces the balanced person who uses their mind to pursue their passion. Let us speak truth to power, but let us also speak the existential truth of our people's world to the negotiated truth of the diplomatic world. Our collective efforts, he continues, will lead to a new vision of a better world, one that is fair, just, peaceful and bountiful to all the peoples of the world.

Read the complete news article at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200805300034.html

Policy Space and Conditionality: South Centre participates in 2nd OECD Annual Plenary on Global Forum on Development

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre addressed the Session on "Policy Space and Conditionality" at the 2nd OECD Annual Plenary on Global Forum on Development held today (2o May) in Paris. This year’s Annual Plenary of the OECD Global Forum on Development focuses on "Strengthening Country Ownership".

More information at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/10/32/40609197.pdf

South Centre in Media (AllAfrica/Africa Focus)- Africa: UN Conference on Trade and Development

The South Centre piece on UNCTAD XII appears at (AllAfrica/Africa Focus)....

AfricaFocus (Washington, DC). "Attempts to take matters outside of the United Nations (UN), such as at G7/8 meetings or at the World Economic Forum, have not been inclusive or democratic. The UN, with all its weaknesses, is still the only multilateral intergovernmental democratic institution the world has, and UNCTAD [United Nations Conference on Trade and Development] is part of that machinery.... Unfortunately, UNCTAD seems to have been further compromised in Accra." - Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre.

South Centre in Media: Equitable Development- The Risks of Inaction

Here is the recent column piece from the South Centre appearing at the Inter Press Service.

MAY 2008 (IPS/South Centre) - There is much to celebrate in the growth and development of the South in recent years, from the ability of certain Latin American countries to avoid dependence on the North to the growth of the economies of certain Asian countries whose increasing sovereign wealth is now being tapped to bail out distressed banks in the North. While there are signs of growth in Africa too, the continent is worse off than the rest of the South, writes Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre.

Complete piece is available at: http://www.ipsnews.net/columns.asp?idnews=42330

South Centre in Media: UNCTAD To Address Challenges Of Change In Africa

Quoted from ISD News-Ghana and Government of Ghana Portal:

UNCTADXII/Accra. The Executive Director of the South Centre, an Intergovernmental Organization of the Developing Countries based in Geneva, Dr Yash Tandon, has urged the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to direct its energies and future efforts towards addressing the obstacles to change in Africa.

He said “at the systemic level there are still many serious and formidable obstacles to change towards a more equitable and just world that needs urgent collective action by the global community” adding that “Africa looks more mired than the rest of the South in the quagmire of the past, but there are signs of growth in Africa too".

Dr Y. Tandon made this known in a statement dubbed "Towards National and Collective Self Reliance of the South" at the General Debate of ongoing UNCTAD-XII in Accra yesterday .

Complete quote can be read at:
http://www.ghana.gov.gh/ghana/unctad_address_challenges_change_africa.jsp

South Centre in Media: Aid and charity is wrong for Africa

Quoted from Ghana News, Joy Online.

UNCTADXII/Accra. An International Economist has said “aid and charity are the wrong way towards addressing the systemic challenges and development issues in Africa.”

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the Geneva based South Centre, an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries made the statement during the general debate at the conference.He, therefore, called on UNCTAD to lead the way in finding ways and means of exiting from aid dependence for countries in the South, especially Africa.

Dr Tandon noted that though there were areas of development in the South that gave reasons for celebration “we are still confronted with major challenges at the systemic level of the world economic order that hampered the development of the South despite so much aid from the North.”

Read the complete quote at:
http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/200804/15704.asp

Press Release: Six Major Challenges Ahead for UNCTAD

Read the Press Release at http://www.southcentre.org/info/2008Apr_Press_Release_UNCTAD_XII.pdf

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre delivered his statement "Towards National and Collective Self Reliance of the South" at the General Debate of the Twelfth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD-XII) on 23rd April at Accra, Ghana.

According to Dr. Tandon, "there are areas of development in the South that give reasons to celebrate. The independence shown by some countries in Latin America from dependence in the North is an example of this positive development. The growth of the economies of certain countries in Asia whose increasing so- called “sovereign wealth” is now the source of bailing out distressed banks in the North is a sign of changing times".

Whilst we have a lot to celebrate, we still confront major challenges.

According to Dr. Tandon, "at the systemic level there are still many serious and formidable obstacles to change towards a more equitable and just world that needs urgent collective action by the global community. Africa looks more mired than the rest of the South in the quagmire of the past, but there are signs of growth in Africa too".

Dr. Tandon listed six major challenges where UNCTAD should direct its energies and future efforts. The challenges include:

1 Recognise that the three pillars set by the UN reform process -- security, development and human rights -- are interdependent; none can be sacrificed for the others.
2. Recognise that MDGs are not simply a statistical game of numbers, or simply one of finding money. There are difficult and complex political issues underlying them. Statistization and monetization of MDGs mask /mystify systemic and structural malaise behind these issues, and divert attention from them. Recognise that what led to Millennium Summit in 2000 and MDGs was the development failure in 1990s. That still remains the case.
3. Recognise that the Washington Consensus is dead, and therefore there is need for fresh thinking on development, financial architecture, and climate change.
4. Recognise that development is self-defined; the North cannot define it for the South.
5. Recognise that aid and charity are the wrong way towards addressing systemic and developmental issues, especially of Africa. UNCTAD must lead the way towards finding ways and means of exiting from aid dependence for the countries of the South.
6. Recognise that the UN, imperfect as it is, is nonetheless the only truly global inter governmental system we have, and the need therefore to work through it. But understand that power and access to knowledge are the key to hard-nosed negotiations.

However, difficult as they may seem, UNCTAD should be bold enough to face them as the price for not taking action is something developing countries can ill-afford. And in this effort, UNCTAD will find in the South Centre a willing ally. The South Centre makes up for its woefully limited resources with hard work and independent conceptual thinking, and enjoys the confidence of the countries of the South.

Read the complete statement at:
http://www.un.org/webcast/unctad/xii/pdf/south_centre_en.pdf

or at: http://www.southcentre.org/info/EDpage/80423_Presentation_at_UNCTAD_XII.pdf

or contact: Vikas Nath, Head - Media and Communication, South Centre at nath@southcentre.org

South Centre in Media: Speaking existential truth to negotiated truth

South Centre gets quoted in the Trinidad and Tobago Express.

Dr Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the Geneva based South Centre challenged the intellectuals of the region to once more "speak truth to power" and to push back the now dominant economic and trade theories. The problem, as Arthur pointed out, was that no one was listening to the Caribbean any more. "In the prevailing intellectual and ideological climate, it has been virtually impossible to call upon a grand design for development, subscribed to by all." Tandon was however insistent that the region should not capitulate. "Go back into the sea,if necessary .Fight against the current. Only dead fish float back to the beaches."

Read the complete article at:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=161308525

African Union Ministerial Conference on Trade and Finance

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre is attending the Conference of the African Ministers of Trade and Finance taking place at the Conference Centre of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1 - 3 April 2008. The meeting is being held in two phases. The Meeting of the Senior Officials will hold from 1-2 April 2008, followed by the Ministerial Meeting on 3rd April 2008.

The Conference of the African Ministers of Trade and Finance will dwell on the following issues: Panel Discussion on the Assessment of Interim Economic Partnership Agreements; the state of the EPA negotiations and that of the WTO negotiations; Operationalisation of Aid for Trade; Harmonisation of EPA texts and Monitoring and Evaluation of the implementation of EPAs;

Regarding the state of the EPA negotiations, the representatives of the five African Negotiating groups will present up to date reports on the status of the EPA negotiations. The focus will be on the main areas of divergences with the EU. The negotiating groups would also inform the meeting on the approach to be used in the continuation of the negotiations with the EC.

Press Release: New Voting Formula at IMF Falls Short of Bringing Genuine Change

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cautiously backed plans for some redistribution of voting power among its 185 member countries.

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre, a Geneva-based intergovernmental thinktank for developing countries, said that "the proposed changes with respect to votes in the IMF as a result of a new voting formula – while positive in recognizing the need for such changes – do not however go far enough to remedy the governance imbalance in the IMF. What is being proposed is too little and preserves developed country control over the IMF. To be genuine about sharing governance power in terms of votes, the increase should be much more.

Genuine IMF governance reform will not occur simply through marginal increases of voting rights. The real issue is how developing countries can have a stronger ‘voice’ in IMF governance and actually shaping how the institution is run. This means that other aspects of IMF governance must also be dealt with – e.g. enhancing developing country collective action and voice in the IMF by making the constituency system more representative and strengthening the multilateral and developing country institutions that support them."

See South Centre press release at: http://www.southcentre.org/info/news_views/IMF_Voting_Rights_1April08.pdf

See quote appearing in the article "IMF governance renovations: fresh paint while foundations rot" by Bretton Woods Project: http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-561041

Political scholars charged to report the real, non-diplomatic truth to govts

Academics, especially political economy scholars, must not be afraid to tell governments real, non-diplomatic truths, according to Dr Yash Tandon, executive director of the South Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

"We who research, write and critique have an obligation, in my view, to speak truth to power, to say how things are and how they should be from the vantage point of some distance from political power and authority," Tandon said.

He was speaking at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies' (SALISES) ninth annual conference at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Wednesday night. He said the challenges some Caribbean intellectuals have made to the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the CARIFORUM group, was a case in point.

Read the complete article at:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080328T190000-0500_133979_OBS_POLITICAL_SCHOLARS_CHARGED_TO_REPORT_THE_REAL__NON_DIPLOMATIC_TRUTH_TO_GOVTS.asp

South Centre makes a presentation at the High Level Segment on Development Cooperation Framework (DCF)

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre made a presentation at the Global Preparatory Meeting "Towards the 2008 Development Cooperation Forum" held in New York on 6 March 2008. The presentation focused on the "Stakeholders Expectations for the DCF" based on the initial desk study done by the South Centre and interviews of some South government delegations and negotiators (mostly Geneva-based), IGO groups (such as G77), IGO agencies (such as FAO, IFAD, WFP in Rome), and some civil society representatives.

The meeting was organized to discuss how the 2008 DCF – as a principal forum for global policy dialogue and review of international development cooperation – would be expected to influence the processes of the Monterrey Follow-up Conference and the Accra High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, both of which will take place in the second half of 2008.

South Centre to participate in the Advisory Board Meeting of the UN's Development Cooperation Forum in Cairo

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre will be participating at the High-Level Symposium on "Trends in development cooperation: South-South and triangular cooperation and aid effectiveness" being organized in Cairo from 19-20 January 2008.

As a major preparatory event for the 2008 DCF, the discussions will solicit the views of all stakeholders with regard to current experiences and future expectations of partnerships in selected areas of development cooperation. The discussions will
be captured in a report of the Cairo meeting, including key policy messages, which will serve to inform the consultative process and analytical preparations for the 2008 DCF.

More information at: http://www.un.org/ecosoc/newfunct/dcfcairo.shtml

Africa should focus on "domestic needs, not exports"

Mat Noor Nawi, the director of the economic planning unit of the Prime Minister's Office in Malaysia, told the participants attending the conference on the Helsinki Process gathered at Dar es Salaam that the interface between developed and developing nations should not favour one side at the expense of the other.

"Developing countries should be allowed to determine their own policy space," he said, adding that Malaysia's success story shows much emphasis needs to be placed on monitoring and evaluation of programmes and policies. He also stressed flexibility and people-centred approaches, political stability, well-coordinated mechanisms and active NGOs and private firms as part of the reasons for growth in the Malaysian economy.

Dr Samuel Wangwe, a consultant, and Dr Yash Tandon, executive director of the intergovernmental think tank South Centre, based in Geneva, Switzerland, agreed that alternative knowledge systems are needed. Wangwe proposed increasing capacity for policy research. Participants reiterated that developing countries should be allowed to determine their own policy spaces and that developed countries' support for developing countries should be flexible.

Read the complete news report appearing in Mail and Guardian, South Africa at:
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/&articleid=326753

South Centre in Media: Helsinki Process- Consensus Against Neoliberal Washington Consensus

Yash Tandon, Executive Director of the South Centre participated in the Helsinki Process conference held in Dar-es-Salaam from 27-29 November.

The news item "Consensus Against Neoliberal Washington Consensus" appearing with the Inter-Press Service quotes Dr. Tandon.

Another consensus was also reached in Dar es Salaam: that the "Global South" -- developing countries, assumed to share common problems and goals -- does not exist. "There is no such Global South," Yash Tandon, executive director of the Geneva-based South Centre, told the conference. "The South is facing, fragmented, the development challenges posed by globalisation."

Read the complete news item at:
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40257

South Centre participates in ILO Forum on Decent Work for a Fair Globalization

Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre spoke at the session on "Upgrading work and enterprises in the informal economy" held on 1 November as a part of the ILO Forum on Decent Work for a Fair Globalization held in Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Tandon delivered his address on "Mainstreaming the Informal Sector: Way out of Current Neo-Malthuisan Social Implosion in the Developing Countries."

South Centre participates in OECD Forum on Ownership in Practice

Yash Tandon, the Executive Director of South Centre will be speaking at the OECD Forum on Ownership in Practice in Paris on September 27, 2007. He will be making a presentation at the opening session of the forum on "The two dimensions of ownership" on behalf of Dr. Norman Girvan, Board Member of the South Centre.

The OECD Global Forum on Development, of which this Workshop is a part, is an informal dialogue space for complex issues. Akey objective of the workshop is to discuss what ownership means in practice, ocusing on concrete examples from developing countries.

More information at: http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,3343,en_21571361_37824719_38977173_1_1_1_1,00.html

Expert Group Meeting on Tax Aspects of Domestic Resource Mobilization: A Discussion of Enduring and Emerging Issues

South Centre will be participating in the UN DESA/IFAD Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Tax Aspects of Domestic Resource Mobilization: A Discussion of Enduring and Emerging Issues to be held in Rome on 4-5 September 2007. Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre will deliver a presentation on "Taxation of private equity funds/investments in domestic jurisdictions" under Agenda 4 on "Trade and Investment-Tax aspects."

According to Dr. Tandon, this privilegization (sic!) of the global corporate sector (which, incidentally, is also the basis of privatization) is at the root of the trepidation (indeed, fear) that governments in the South experience in making bold policies to generate self-motivated economic development, and in creating bold tax regimes. There is all-pervasive apprehension, for example, that increasing tax rates would drive investments out, and that includes both domestic as well as foreign capital. This explains the timidity of much of tax regimes in the countries of the South.

What is required is a paradigm shift that provides a more balanced perspective on the “engines” of growth, so that the corporate or private sector, whist important and significant, does not enjoy a stranglehold over policy such that governments ignore, or downgrade, the role that other social forces and economic actors play in economic growth in the developing countries.