8889 online readers of the Financial Times Germany “voted” on Germany’s new development aid minister Dirk Niebel’s suggestion to stop development aid for China by 12:45 GMT today. 80 per cent of them believe that the idea is overdue; 15 per cent consider the idea populist, and 5 per cent believe it is dangerous. Niebel’s suggestion

The Swiss cabinet says it will not increase its contribution to development aid, as previously planned.   Increasing the contribution to 0.5 percent of national income by 2015, as required by ... set aside 0.42 percent of its gross domestic product for aid.   Several non-governmental organizations have condemned the cabinet’s decision, describing it as ‘ ...

“Despite increased use of human rights language, a range of key EU development policies do not coherently or consistently reflect the applicable international human rights framework. Weaknesses include ... legally precise human rights terminology with vague formulations of language; misrepresenting the relationship between policy commitments such as the Millennium Development Goals and the legal

Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS By Julio Godoy BERLIN, Oct 29 (IPS) – Concerns have risen with the inauguration of the new government that Germany will cut back on its commitments on international development. Misgivings have arisen over the appointment of Dirk Niebel from the Free Democratic Party (FDP) as the minister for economic

The main questions for the 2010 UK elections will be about public spending: where to make cuts, and how deep should they be? In the past, faced with similar pressures, there would have been loud and widely voiced calls for a retrenchment of overseas development assistance (ODA), and a refocusing of government priorities on issues closer to home. read more

The Food Summit’s ended, and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf is disappointed that targets and deadlines haven’t been set. There are some important results, though; and more of that later. Diouf also features in this affecting petition (1 billion hungry) but it’s got the same production values as other celebrity-endorsed videos, and I’m left feeling both horrified