This occasional paper addresses three questions revolving around the IMF policy. The questions are: What are the underlying factors shaking the very foundation of one of the pillars of the international financial architecture? What strategic and managerial reforms would be necessary to allow the...

The Fourth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF4) will be held in China, Nanjing 03-06 November 2008. The forum is convened pursuant to the resolution of 18th session of the Commission on Human Settlements aimed at facilitating the exchange of experiences and the advancement of collective...

Reports have been pouring in that the Burmese soldiers today used baton and tear gas against the Buddhist monks and civilian protesters at Shwedagon pagoda, the holiest Buddhist place in Rangoon. The situation calls for immediate interventions of the international community.

The system of justice in Bangladesh is derived from the common law system. The judiciary tends to be conservative in its application of international law. While in many cases the judiciary has cited international laws, its decisions have not always been based on these laws. The high court...

On 8th March, United Nations agencies, governments and non-governmental organisations across the world celebrated “International Women’s Dayâ€. But in the United Nations Human Rights Council there was silence about the lack of protection for the victims of trafficking. At its...

Access to clean water should be declared a basic human right for three reasons. First, access to clean water can substantially reduce the global burden of disease caused by water-borne infections. Second, the privatization of water—as witnessed in Bolivia, Ghana, and other...

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is an important body of the United Nations for development issues. It is also responsible for the construction and publication of the Human Development Index (HDI). The UNDP is present in more than 166 countries and exerts an influence on the...