Remembering Kosovo, Denmark’s ‘grand political gesture’

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has announced criteria for selecting the new Administrator of UNDP. Contrary to optimistic predictions in the Norwegian press, these virtually exclude the Norwegian Development Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson as a candidate.

The three NGOs Action Aid, Eurodad and Oxfam have launched a crushing report that concludes the European governments’ aid commitments, trade and debt policies are failing the poorest countries.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the renowned corruption fighter Eva Joly to examine the anti-corruption policies of the multilateral development banks (MDBs). Development Today has learned that Joly has agreed to undertake the review, which is expected to take a couple of months.

Within the first two weeks of January, Finland allocated EUR 20 million, one-third of its entire humanitarian budget, for the two countries worst hit by the tsunami crisis, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The math is simple. Unless extra funds are added to the humanitarian aid budget, other emergencies - probably in Africa -will pay for Finnish generosity in Southeast Asia.

The Swede Johan Schaar has taken up the position of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation, based in Geneva. He will be responsible for overseeing aid to countries affected by the disaster, for which the IFRC societies have received unprecedented private donations.

The Right Livelihood Foundation was given no positive indication that it would be granted tax-exempt status in Sweden, during a recent meeting with the Swedish Ministry of Finance.