This summary is prepared by the External Affairs Department of the World Bank. All material is taken directly from published and copyright wire service stories and newspaper articles. The daily summary and other news can be found on the World Bank's external website at http://www.worldbank.org/news. For inquiries call (202) 473-7660 or send a written request to the News Bureau.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
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Today's Headlines:
- IMF Sets Up External Review Panel To Assess Risk Management Framework
- UN Urges More Climate Cuts To Match Cancun Pledges
- No Toilets Costs India $54 Billion Annually: World Bank
- Tongan Noble To Lead First Popularly Elected Government
- Editorial: Progress On Malaria
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IMF Sets Up External Review Panel To Assess Risk Management Framework. "International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has appointed a high-level external panel to undertake a review of the risk management framework employed by the IMF to manage its strategic, financial and operational risks, the IMF said on Monday in a statement. 'When the framework was launched in 2007, it was decided that a comprehensive and independent review of the framework would be undertaken after three years of experience. The creation of a review panel has been welcomed by the IMF Executive Board,' according to the statement…." [Xinhua/Factiva]
Bloomberg adds that "…the panel will be led by Guillermo Ortiz, former governor of the Bank of Mexico. The four-member panel also includes JPMorgan Chase International Chairman Jacob Frenkel, Deutsche Bank Group Vice Chairman Malcolm Knight and Thomas O'Neill, former chief executive officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting and former member of the IMF's audit committee, the IMF said….
The panel will set its own scope and timeline, taking into account the IMF's 'unique role in the international financial system, particularly its surveillance activities and responsibilities as a lender of last resort,' the IMF said…." [Bloomberg]
UN Urges More Climate Cuts To Match Cancun Pledges. "The UN urged governments on Monday to make deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions quickly, saying the world will otherwise overshoot a ceiling for global warming agreed this month in Mexico. The UN Climate Change Secretariat Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres also called on countries to work out the details of new institutions, such as a Green Climate Fund to help poor nations, agreed on December 11 at the 190-nation talks…. Figueres said existing pledges for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions were only 60 percent of those needed to limit a rise in temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), the level agreed in Mexico to avert dangerous change…." [Reuters/Factiva]
AP adds that "…Figueres said the agreements reached in Cancun, Mexico, went farther than many expected – but not far enough. 'Cancun was a big step, bigger than many imagined would be possible,' she said in a statement. 'Governments renewed their trust in each other, but to succeed fully they need to press boldly ahead with what they have agreed.'…" [Associated Press/Factiva]
Meanwhile, AFP reports that "…the UN General Assembly agreed to form a panel of international experts on biodiversity in a resolution approved on Monday. The resolution is an important step towards the implementation of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)… The panel of experts is a key component of the UN's push for reform of global biodiversity management…." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
No Toilets Costs India $54 Billion Annually: World Bank. "A lack of toilets and poor hygiene practices in India cost Asia's third largest economy almost $54 billion every year, the World Bank said on Monday. Premature deaths, treatment for the sick, wasted time and productivity, as well as lost tourism revenues, are the main reasons for the high economic losses, the Bank said in a report titled, Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India. 'For decades, we have been aware of the significant impacts of inadequate sanitation in India,' Christopher Juan Costain, the World Bank's head for South Asia's water and sanitation program, told a news conference. 'The report quantifies the economic losses to India, and shows that children and poor households bear the brunt of poor sanitation.'…" [Reuters/Factiva]
The Economic Times of India adds that "…more than three-fourth of the premature mortality-related economic losses are due to deaths and diseases in children younger than five. Diarrhea among these children accounts for over 47 percent of the total health-related impact – nearly $18 billion dollars.
The report estimates that in rural areas, where 50 percent of households are said to have access to improved sanitation, there are almost 575 million people defecating in the open. Similarly, in urban areas where 60-70 percent of the households are said to have access to sanitation, 54 million people defecate in the open and over 60 percent of the waste water is discharged untreated…." [The Economic Times of India]
Bloomberg writes that "…the finding suggests India bears a higher cost than other Asian countries from inadequate collection of human excreta: $48 per person, compared with $9.30 per person in Vietnam, $16.80 in the Philippines, $28.60 in Indonesia and $32.40 in Cambodia, the study's authors found…. 'The cost is more than I expected,' Clarissa Brocklehurst, water, sanitation and hygiene chief at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said…." [Bloomberg]
Tongan Noble To Lead First Popularly Elected Government. "Tonga's first popularly elected parliament selected a noble as prime minister designate Tuesday, edging out a pro-democracy activist in a victory for conservatives in the Pacific nation. After almost a month of horse-trading and alliance building following the November 26 ballot, Lord Tu'ivakano was named prime minister in waiting by interim parliamentary speaker Lord Tupou…." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
AP adds that "…King George Tupou V was informed of the result for his approval, and it was then announced to a full meeting of parliament, as foreign diplomats and media representatives looked on. The announcement was simultaneously broadcast on national radio. Tu'ivakano, the minister for education and training in the former government, replaces Feleti Seveli as prime minister. Seveli was the first commoner to serve as Tongan prime minister, but did not seek re-election…." [Associated Press/Factiva]
BBC reports that "…previously the king had chosen the majority of politicians, the entire cabinet and the prime minister. As none of the three blocs has a majority in parliament, decisions will be taken on a vote-by-vote basis. However, Lord Tu'ivakano's election appears to be a victory for traditionalists in the country…." [BBC News]
Editorial: Progress On Malaria. According to an editorial published on December 21 in the International Herald Tribune, "More than a decade ago, international health and development agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, started a campaign to cut the number of malaria cases and deaths in half by 2010. By 2005 the effort was in such disarray that the toll from malaria had actually gotten worse, not better.
The campaign will fall short of meeting its original goals for the end of this year. But the encouraging news is that, after so much wasted time, there has been enormous progress over the past three years in distributing the means to prevent and treat malaria and in bringing down death rates in many countries….
Things began to turn around in 2008, after the UN appointed a special envoy to coordinate the effort, other public and private organizations joined the struggle, and financing rose rapidly…. Leaders of the campaign say that with continued high levels of effort, the number of deaths from malaria could be halved by the end of 2011 and virtually eliminated by 2015. Yet the gains are fragile….
Given the hard economic times, international funding for the anti-malaria campaign rose only slightly this year to $1.8 billion, far short of the $6 billion that the WHO says is needed. Rich nations need to do more." [International Herald Tribune]
Also in This Edition, Briefly Noted… World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Sunday evening asked Cote d'Ivoire incumbent Laurent Gbagbo to respect the election results and hand over power. [Xinhua/Factiva]
More than 140 children have been rescued after being forced to work in markets in Gabon, says international police agency Interpol. [BBC News]
Haiti's electoral authorities have delayed publication of final results from the Caribbean country's disputed November elections while Organization of American States experts help to verify the contested ballot count. [Reuters/Factiva]
Guatemala has given the army special powers to reclaim control of the northern province of Alta Verapaz, which officials say has been overtaken by Mexican drug traffickers. [BBC News]
Brazil's outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he might eventually run for president again, a revelation that shakes up Brazilian politics and could weaken his chosen successor Dilma Rousseff just two weeks before she takes power. [Reuters/Factiva]
Special economic zones (SEZs) and industrial clusters have served as two important engines of China's development, the World Bank said on Monday. [Xinhua/Factiva]
Cambodia's order to shut down a UN refugee office which handles Vietnamese refugees has further strained troubled ties with international organizations, casting doubt over the pro-business government's commitment to reforms. [Reuters/Factiva]
International sea trade contracted by 4.5 percent in 2009, while the deliveries of new vessels in the same period grew by 42 percent, indicating a slow recovery ahead, the UN Trade and Development Conference (UNCTAD) said Monday. [Xinhua/Factiva]
New observations from Europe's Goce gravity mapping satellite have allowed scientists to plot ocean currents with unprecedented precision. [BBC News]
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