• Despite post-Monterrey donor initiatives, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are underfinanced. • The revenue potential, the additionality and the speed of availability of new finance sources, and their political feasibility, are of particular importance. • On these criteria, it is...

Sovereign wealth funds have become important players in global financial markets. But their investments have repeatedly raised concerns, such as fear of industrial espionage or geopolitical threats. This paper argues that the principal motivation for setting up SWFs should put such concerns into...

. Developing countries will account for almost all the increase in the world's labour force over the next 25 years; most countries, especially in Africa, will experience very rapid labour force growth. . Labour-intensive development has been spectacularly successful in some countries and others...

Suppose a DAC donor earmarks $1 billion of taxpayers’ money for official development assistance (ODA). The donor may use two instruments as an outright grant or in combination with a market loan to produce a concessional loan of $2 billion with a percentage grant element of 50 per cent. Many...

• Advanced developing countries are increasingly encouraged to remove existing capital controls, but mixed experiences with capital account opening caution that reform must be carefully designed to increase efficiency and growth without compromising stability • A gradual dismantling of...

. Lowering interest rates and, thus, the cost of borrowing in the rand zone (Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) is a priority to promote investment and economic growth. . Local-currency interest rates in these countries are driven by those on rand-denominated transactions. Reducing...

. A growing recognition of the need to delimit the role of the government, to promote the market framework, and to rely on the private sector as the engine of growth, offers the prospect of a new beginning in rural development in Africa. . Rural people must take a more dominant role, both in...

. The poor are the principal beneficiaries of universal access to social services. . Instead of thinking in terms of supply, we need to meet the demand for services from the poor. . Policies should be judged by their outcomes rather than by the amount of resources employed. . Coherent, long-term...

• Many micro-enterprises are known to the authorities, in particular because they pay taxes. • Intermediate-revenue countries impose certain standards to protect consumers. • Wages regulations are only rarely respected. • The creation and development of micro-enterprises could be...

. Deeply rooted social institutions – societal norms, codes of conduct, laws and tradition – cause gender discrimination. . Religion per se does not systematically define such discrimination. All dominant religions show flexibility in interpreting the role of women in society. . The...