STWR - Share The World's Resources

Calls for debt relief, emergency aid and a transfer of technical and financial resources to the Global South have become increasingly commonplace in recent decades. But what are the criticisms of these forms of aid, and what role do the UN and NGOs have in this 'development cooperation'? By UN NGLS.

An era of 'reckless finance' encouraged by the IMF and the World Bank has resulted in a debt crisis engulfing the world's poorest countries. We urgently need a new wave of debt cancellation to protect the poor from a deepening global financial crisis, says a report by the Jubilee Debt Campaign.

Many richer nations continue to use aid as an instrument of power rather than a tool for development. We need a new model of aid that prioritises self-sufficiency, promotes food security and encourages genuine empowerment of the poor, argues Tesfaye Habisso.  

Although the financial crisis originated in the Global North, it will impact the world's poorest economies most deeply. The G20 should reform the Bretton Woods Institutions, strengthen the UN, and encourage development led by the Global South, says a report by the Overseas Development Institute.

Analysts appear to have overlooked the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, even though the repercussions could be disastrous for the world’s poor. Two reports reveal how lax financial regulation and accounting secrecy facilitated the crisis and could have serious implications for poor countries.

Domestic tax revenues are an essential source of financing for development. This report describes the problems that undermine direct tax revenues in poor countries, with a focus on aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.

The financial crisis is expected to have a severe impact on humanitarian funding, with some analysts projecting cuts in official development assistance (ODA) of up to a third or more.