Board Members of South Centre convene for the Twentieth Meeting of the Board

The Twentieth Meeting of the Board of the South Centre is being held in Geneva from 14 to 16 February 2008 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Benjamin W. Mkapa, the former President of Tanzania and the Chairperson of the Board of the South Centre. Two new members were welcomed into the Board, Mr. Yousef Al ZALZALAH (Kuwait) and Mr. Li ZHAOXING (China).

South Centre @Connexion 08, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva

South Centre was invited to present its activities at the annual career forum, Connexion 08, of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), in Geneva.

Darlan Fonseca-Martí from the Trade for Development Programme briefed over 40 students present during the session on South Centre and its programme activities. He also informed them of the various internship activities available for young professionals within different programmes of the South Centre.

Interestingly, some of the current and former interns of the South Centre also participated in the session, so that prospective interns could get first hand information on the work environment and responsibilities given to the interns.

Conditions and information on how to apply to South Centre internships can be found at: http://www.southcentre.org/WorkOpportunities/newworkopportunitiesindex.htm

South Centre TV: Interview with the new Chairman of G-77 Chapter in Geneva

On 12 February 2008, Ambassador Chitsaka Chipaziwa of Zimbabwe assumed the Chairmanship of the Geneva Chapter of the Group of 77 from Honduras at an official ceremony at Palais des Nations, Geneva.

The South Centre TV captured the first interview given by the new Chairman on the challenges he sees ahead for the G-77 and the role of South Centre. The interview was conducted by Mr. Vice Yu, Head, Global Governance for Development Programme, South Centre.



This interview is also available at YouTube.com at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCrd3sckfg and at http://blip.tv/file/664666

South Centre in Media: EU Sugar Reform a Bitter Pill for Poorer Producers

This piece written by David Kleimann while working at the South Centre appears in the IPS Columnist Service.

(IPS/South Centre) - For more than three decades, the European Union has maintained an extremely costly supply management scheme for its domestic sugar market which insulates domestic producers from international market forces with price supports and tariffs and has resulted in domestic prices triple world market prices and a major production surplus. At the same time, the EU has granted duty free market access for guaranteed quantities to some of its former colonies at guaranteed prices, writes David Kleimann, a German expert on international law and international relations.

In February 2006, the EU adopted a radical reform programme of its sugar regime which is having severe effects. Some ACP high-cost producers are very likely to cease production because of the price reductions, while others will face a sharp reduction in their export earnings, and only a small group of competitive LDCSs will be able to comfortably continue to supply the EU market after the price reductions have been implemented and the preferences terminated. The EU has the moral and legal obligation to provide the small and vulnerable ACP economies with market access for sugar that is worth no less than the previous trade arrangement and that continues to contribute to the realisation of their economic development and poverty reduction.

South Centre: Handover Ceremony of Chairmanship of G-77 and China in Geneva

Ambassador Delmer Urbizo of Honduras today (12 February) handed over the Chairmanship of Group of 77 to Zimbabwe at an official ceremony in Palais des Nations, Geneva. Ambassador Chitsaka Chipaziwa of Zimbabwe has been elected as the new Chairman of the Group in Geneva.

Dr. Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre, spoke on the behalf of Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, Chairperson of the South Centre during the event.

Dr. Tandon reminded the audience that we are living through exciting but challenging times, and there is a need for more and not less South-South cooperation to deal with the challenges ahead. Some of the challenges the South has to face include in the area of energy, finance, trade, climate change, on intellectual property rights and on access to knowledge. South Centre will continue to work on these issues to providing timely assistance to developing countries.

After formally accepting the chairmanship of the Group of 77, Ambassador Chipaziwa provided a short commentary for the South Centre TV on the challenges ahead for the Group of 77.

Government officials from African countries visit South Centre

Government officials from African countries participating to AITIC's capacity building Official Fellowship Programme were recieved by Darlan Fonseca-Martí, of the Trade for Development Programme of the South Centre, on 7 February for an informal briefing about the WTO Doha negotiations. The group had an opportunity to discuss issues of their interest related to Agriculture, NAMA and Services negotiations. In addition, the group was presented with an overview of the Centre's trade-related capacity building activities.

Working Lunch on Trade Facilitation

South Centre organized a working lunch meeting on trade facilitation for Missions of Developing Countries in Geneva on 6 February 2008. Vice Yu, Coordinator of the Global Governance for Development Programme, South Centre conducted the meeting.

South Centre in Media: More Balance Needed In IP And Trade; Disclosure May Not Be Enough

The current patent system has been seen as the primary enabling mechanism for biopiracy, the misappropriation of genetic resources, said panellist Xuan Li, Coordinator of the innovation and access to knowledge programme at the intergovernmental South Centre. The World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) also has allowed the misappropriation of genetic resources, she said.

Li made the remarks at a 24 January event organised by the South Centre and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), held alongside a weeklong meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) working group on access and benefit sharing (ABS). A Chinese official on the panel also raised these concerns and said that TRIPS is sometimes unbalanced and privileges the holder of IP.

Source: IP-Watch, 29 January 2008. http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=898

Read the South FACE from the event at: http://www.southcentre.org/southface/South_Face_IAKP-CBD-Jan-2008.pdf and watch the Digital Videos at: http://southcentre.blip.tv/

Watch Digital TV on "Disclosure of Origin at the CBD, WIPO and the WTO: Conflict, Coherence or Complementarity?"

The presentations made at the South Centre event on "Disclosure of Origin at the CBD, WIPO and the WTO: Conflict, Coherence or Complementarity?" have now been captured on the South Centre Digital TV.

For rest of the presentations, go to: http://southcentre.blip.tv

South Centre Participates in Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2008

Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Programme Officer, Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme participated in the Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2008 held in Bangkok, Thailand from 30 January - 1 February 2008. The theme of this year conference was "Three Decades of Primary Health Care: Reviewing the Past and Defining the Future."