Concerted efforts have been made to give a new lease of life to the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. The question before us is: what is the most relevant role which this revived round of trade talks can play? If we take an overview of the entire international trade scene and the changes that have taken place ever since the WTO was created (including the negotiations which preceded the WTO’s...

The economic turmoil sweeping the globe has lead to a sharp spike in hunger affecting the world’s poorest, uncovering a fragile global food system requiring urgent reform, according to a report issued today by two United Nations agencies. The combination of the food and economic crises have pushed more people into hunger, with the number of hungry expected to top 1 billion this year, according to the Food and Agriculture...

The 2009 Human Development Report (HDR), released simultaneously across the world on Monday, makes a strong case for removing barriers to migration within and across borders, arguing that human movement had brought perceptible all-round benefits and held the potential to improve the lives of millions of poor and low-skilled people. Released jointly here by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and United Nations Resident Coordinator Patrice Coeur-Bizot, the...

The release of the United Nations’ 2009 Human Development Report is likely to start many much-needed conversations. The report, which is produced annually by the United Nations Development Programme or UNDP, is generally scrutinised for its “rankings” — in which countries’ relative positions in terms of how well they support individual development are ranked. Much will be made of India’s relative fall in the rankings — and, possibly, of China’s...

Dramatically reducing global child mortality would cost much less than people around the world think, an International aid agency says. Launching its biggest-ever campaign, Save the Children said $40bn (£25bn) would radically lower the number of children who die of treatable diseases. The agency said there was insufficient pressure on governments to act, because people thought it would cost much more. It said about nine million children aged under five died...