Cherie Blair didn't ask for a Mommy War

In India, Microcredit Has Suffered a Black Eye

Microcredit is losing its halo in many developing countries.

Microcredit was once extolled by world leaders like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair as a powerful tool that could help eliminate poverty, through loans as small as $50 to cowherds, basket weavers and other poor people for starting or expanding businesses. But now microloans have prompted political hostility in Bangladesh, India, Nicaragua and other developing countries.

In December, the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheik Hasina Wazed, who had championed microloans alongside President Clinton at talks in Washington in 1997, turned her back on them.

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The African Miracle

How the world's charity case became its best investment opportunity.

Not so long ago, the world lamented its broken continent. "The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world," declared British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001 -- and his was a common refrain. Civil war, economic stagnation, and a high disease burden seemed irreversible, condemning the region to perpetual poverty.

A decade later, however, Africa has outgrown the gloom and doom. Far from the misery-stricken place so often portrayed, Africa today is alive with rising urban centers, a growing consumer class, and sizzling business deals. It's a land of opportunity.

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Africa 'needs billions more aid' says Blair commission

The commission set up by ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to find solutions to poverty in Africa says the continent needs billions more dollars in aid.

The Commission for Africa says the world's poorest continent has made "extraordinary progress" since 2005.

But poverty reduction has also become more challenging in many parts of Africa, it says.

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Tony Blair: 'Heavy price' for climate inaction

World leaders may pay a heavy price in history if they fail to tackle global warming, Tony Blair has warned.

He said politicians did not have to wait for chaotic climate change in order for them to act.

The risks of not cutting emissions, given the potentially massive consequences, was enough to justify action, he told BBC Radio 4.

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The Fight Against Malaria in Africa: Progress Made and Challenges Remaining

When: Wednesday 17 February 2010 17:30 to 18:45
Where: Chatham House, London, UK

Participants

Pam Bolton, Vice President, Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Fareed Abdullah, Unit Director, Africa Unit, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Adel Chaouch, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Marathon Oil Company
Chair: Ian Linden, Director of Faiths Act, Tony Blair Faith Foundation
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Type: Members event

More people die as a result of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa than any other part of the world, and most of these deaths are among children under the age of five. Malaria is a major impediment to development and costs the African economy billions of dollars each year, despite being a preventable and treatable disease.

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Breaking the Climate Deadlock report on how world leaders can tackle climate change with technology

Tony Blair will today call for immediate action on energy efficiency and a definitive commitment to develop the next generation of the technological revolution needed to get the world started down the low-carbon path.

The ‘Technology for a Low Carbon Future’ report comes just days before President Obama chairs a meeting of the major economies to discuss progress towards a new global climate agreement at Copenhagen later this year.

The report finds that 70% of the reductions needed by 2020 can be achieved by investing in energy efficiency – lighting, vehicles, buildings and motors - and reducing deforestation.

The report concludes that the strategy that should be adopted at the MEF and into Copenhagen should be to focus on existing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, along with efforts to halt deforestation, which can deliver major short-term cuts in emissions, while we invest in next generation technologies – carbon capture and storage, new approaches to nuclear and solar, and emerging biotech based solutions – that will drive down emissions through to the middle of the century.

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Senators Discuss Global Climate Issues

U.S. action - or inaction - on the climate has far-reaching economic impacts, members of Congress discussed March 3.

“U.S. Climate Action: A Global Economic Perspective” was convened by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), John McCain (R-AZ), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Click here to see a Web site about the symposium.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair kicked off the session, arguing that the leading world economic powers are starting to comprehend the risks of climate change. He urged all nations to invest in low-carbon economies. Blair said the United States can be a trendsetter by making progress on a domestic climate policy in the coming months, according to a press release.

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France to sell morality to the markets

France is to step up efforts to instil moral values in the global market economy by urging policymakers to consider fresh ways of combating financial short-termism.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, and Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, will jointly host a conference in Paris next week of political leaders and Nobel prize-winning economists to discuss ways of strengthening the ethical foundations of the capitalist system after the financial crisis.

“There is no system of wealth creation without a system of values and this value system has been badly shaken,” said Eric Besson, the French minister for policy planning, who is organising the conference.

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G8 leaders ready to backtrack on Africa aid

Leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations are set to backtrack on their landmark pledge at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to increase development aid to Africa to $25bn a year.

A draft communiqué obtained by the Financial Times, due to be issued at the group’s July summit in Hokkaido, Japan, shows leaders will commit to fulfilling “our commitments on [development aid] made at Gleneagles” – but fails to cite the target of $25bn annually by 2010.

This goal – which was repeated at last year’s G8 summit in Germany – was seen as an important boost for Africa. The ambitious plan was a cornerstone of former UK prime minister Tony Blair’s G8 presidency and championed by his successor, Gordon Brown.

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A woman's place?

Why the European Union has so few women on top

Is the European Union at heart a female project? Margot Wallstrom, a vice-president and thus the most senior woman in the European Commission, rather thinks so. She points to the EU's fondness for compromise and listening, and its rejection of horrid things like conflict. Ms Wallstrom, who is charged with selling the EU project to the public, suggests that this is a good reason for giving women a bigger share of the union's top jobs.

Specifically, Ms Wallstrom thinks it is shameful that only men's names (eg, those of Tony Blair, Jean-Claude Juncker, Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Wolfgang Schüssel) are being bandied about in connection with three important posts to be divvied up in the coming months: president of the European Commission; EU foreign-policy chief (or “high representative”); and the new position of full-time president of the European Council, representing national leaders. It is all very well for Brussels types to fuss about parity between big countries and small, north and south, or left and right, she argues. Any chance of a candidate who is not a man in a grey suit and tie?

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Moving targets keep low-carbon economy on the back burner

Government's scorecard on combating climate change doesn't add up

As we look back on the past year and look forward to the next, there are clearly huge challenges for our economy. The housing market, consumer spending and economic growth look poised on the edge of a pretty steep drop, and there is a growing chance of a recession.

But Gordon Brown - and before him Tony Blair - have stressed that the biggest challenge of our time is the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Professor Nick Stern recommended in his report this year that rich countries start spending at least 1% of their gross domestic product to combat climate change. That's roughly £13bn a year. The United Nations has since gone further and talked of 1.6% of GDP to achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases.

The government has committed Britain to a legally binding target to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. This year the EU set a very demanding requirement that countries increase their share of energy produced from renewables such as wind, solar and biomass to 20% by 2020.

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No more time for energy omissions

It has been clear for some time that the European Union has ceased to articulate realistic and achievable goals, such as the single market or monetary union, and moved on to metaphysical declarations, typified by the Lisbon agenda to make the EU the most competitive economy in the world by – any minute now.

Among the less realistic goals is one set this spring, for 20 per cent of energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. This target, eagerly endorsed by a departing Tony Blair, has emerged as more millstone than milestone in British policymaking. But the EU is not the main culprit behind the incoherence of UK energy policy. The government is.

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Recruiting plus-40s

Ian Blair is 69 years young and something of a poster boy for career-minded job hunters aged over 45 - the definition of a mature age worker.
After a year spent looking for work, Mr Blair secured a permanent job as a senior consultant with Melbourne-based Prima Consulting, which provides software solutions for corporate and government clients.

"I am told there are not many 69-year-olds in the IT industry," he says.

Not that Mr Blair is a Luddite. He was using a computer to analyse farming productivity in the 1960s. He was an early internet user and "there at the beginning" of software languages such as SQL and integrated packages such as Microsoft Office.

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Blair and corporate responsibility – A balanced scorecard?

Tony Blair’s legacy on corporate responsibility is mixed

As in so many things, the Blair government began with high hopes for corporate responsibility. The appointment of a dedicated minister seemed not just to place the issues firmly at the centre of the political agenda, but also to raise the profile of responsible business more widely.

In the subsequent decade, there is no doubt that the UK government has been involved in some of the most cutting-edge initiatives. The Kimberley Process, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Ethical Trading Initiative, while all subject to criticism, have been successful in promoting change on key aspects of the responsible business agenda.

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How Missed Early Warnings Can Lead to Perfect Reputational Storms

Three British institutions have felt the devastation of a perfect reputational storm in recent weeks. Two scandals have undermined public confidence in the BBC, the first involving faking winners of phone-in competitions and the second over the misleading edit of a film in which the Queen is shown storming off camera after cross words with a portrait photographer. Customer complaints, baggage loss, and industrial action have been compounded by a price-fixing scandal at British Airways that has left the airline with a £270m fine and a £300m class action suit. Finally, London’s Metropolitan Police, already in the dock for heavy-handed tactics with terrorist suspects, has been exposed for misleading the public over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician who was mistaken for a suicide bomber in 2005.

What these cases show is the extent to which the leaders and senior executives of these organizations were adrift. They were exposed for being unaware of what was happening both within and outside their organizations. Sir Ian Blair, head of the Met, was dubbed "The Sleeping Policeman" for admitting that even after 24 hours, no one had informed him that an innocent man had been killed. Willie Walsh, CEO of BA, shamefacedly admitted he had known nothing of his company’s price-fixing activities, which had occurred in 2004, a year before he joined the airline. Meanwhile, Peter Fincham, controller of BBC ONE, was forced into a groveling apology after the Queen demanded the film be scrapped.

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They've saved scores of lives

The anti-terror squad may be doing a great job and mistakes are made. Understood.

Notwithstanding that mistakes are made, here Mr. Hayman misled the public and he must go!

Onésimo Alvarez-Moro

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Britain’s top anti-terror cop was last night backed over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes — and praised for saving “dozens of lives”.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith led a heavyweight campaign to support Met Police Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman.

Ms Smith also gave the thumbs-up to Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair in the wake of the official report into the shooting — a sign she wants both to stay.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission’s probe into the death of Mr de Menezes, 27, in London in July 2005 said disciplinary action should be considered against Mr Hayman.

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Society failing Dads says EOC

A new publication by the Equal Opportunities Commission - Fathers and the modern family- launched for Father's Day, warns that a new generation of dads are being held back by society’s failure to recognise the importance of fathers. While today's fathers are eager to play a more hands on role with their child, they are faced with barriers, both at work and by Britain's public services.

Over the last decade, Tony Blair’s Government has delivered a great deal for mothers – now the EOC is calling on the new Gordon Brown-led Government to make a similar impact in providing support for fathers.

The EOC's new analysis of the Millennium Cohort Surveys (MCS) presents important evidence about the links between a father's role and the well being of children. Fathers' personal characteristics, such as having a high depression score when the child was aged 9-10 months old; having low educational qualifications and being very young at the child’s birth all increase the likelihood of a three year-old child having developmental problems.

See full Press Release.

US 'opposes' G8 climate proposals

The US appears to have rejected draft proposals by Germany for G8 members to agree tough measures in greenhouse gas emissions, leaked documents have shown.

Wide-ranging US amendments to a draft communique prepared ahead of June's G8 in Germany summit cite a "fundamental opposition" to the proposals.

Germany wants all G8 members to agree timetables and targets for major cuts.

Greenpeace, who leaked the document, said it showed UK PM Tony Blair failed to persuade the US to alter its stance.

In the document, US officials make major changes to the communique.

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Who is to be the new World Bank head?

Now that we know the departure date of current World Bank head, Paul Wolfowitz, the search has begun for a new head.

If things go ahead as they usually do with international organizations, the new head will be another US national, as that is the agreement with the Bretton Woods organizations: the head of the World Bank is from the US and the head of the IMF is from Europe, the old powers.

No crumbs for anyone else, and little accounting for ability and fit.

A suggestion to get the ball rolling with the first non-US President could be retiring British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who is also leaving in June (is that a coincidence?).

Reasons why he could make it include:

• He is a friend of US President George Bush.
  
• He is a friend of EU leaders.
  
• He is well known internationally.
  
• Gordon Brown as head of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF, has strong influence with other finance ministers.
  

Mr. Blair has shown himself interested in international issues and poverty and this would be a fitting position for him next.

As the first non-US World Bank President, we would have made the first step towards the practice of choosing Presidents for their ability and their effectiveness, rather than their nationality and connections.

Onésimo Alvarez-Moro