Germany’s new development minister Dirk Niebel is Germany’s new minister for economic cooperation and development. So far, he has been serving as the Free Democrats’ general secretary. Gudrun Kopp of the same party will be his parliamentary secretary, as was disclosed when D+C went to press. Niebel is a specialist in security affaires and labour issues, whereas Ms. Kopp is the world-trade expert of her faction in the Bundestag. (dem)

Obama inches towards Guantánamo exit In October, the US Congress passed a law telling the administration to close the Guantanamo Bay dentention camp and allowing inmates to be put on trial in the USA. In late October, 221 persons were still being held there. Experts reckon that around 40 of them will be put on trial in the State of Michigan. Another 80 inmates, however, are believed to be dangerous, but there is only scant evidence against them. The new law rules out setting Guantánamo inmates free in the USA. President Barack Obama’s adminstration has so far not disclosed what it plans to do.

Private-sector cartels hurt development Corruption is a growing challenge for the business sector. Though there has been encouraging progress in recent years, many companies still do not live up to their own aspirations. This finding results from the Global Corruption Report 2009, which was recently published by Transparency International (TI) and focuses on the private sector. Nearly 40 % of the managers interviewed said that they had been asked to pay a bribe when dealing with public institutions. Private cartels and their price-fixing, according to the report, prove expensive for consumers in Latin America and Asia. More than 283 private international cartels came to light between 1990 and 2005, TI reports. Its estimate is that the damage done by cartels may actually exceed the total volume of development aid. According to TI, price-fixing has been on the rise since the 1980s. (cir)
»» www.transparency.org/publications/gcr

No leader worthy of prize This year, the Mo-Ibrahim-Prize for good governance will not be awarded, as was announced in October without indication of the reason. The billionaire and prize-founder, Mo Ibrahim, told the BBC, that everyone should draw their own conclusion on the matter.

Since 2007, the prize is given to a democratically elected African head of state or government within three years of leaving office. So far, Joaquim Alberto Chissan of Mozambique and Mogae of Botswana won the award. The Mo-Ibrahim-Prize is the world’s most highly endowed prize world wide: the prize-bearer receives $ 5 million and, after ten years, an annual pension of $ 200,000. On top of that, he is given another $ 2 million that must be donated for social purposes. (cir)

Afghanistan will vote again In late October, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (picture) agreed to a second round of elections. The USA and European allies had put pressure on him to do so. Western governments struggle to explain to their electorates why they risk the lives of soldiers to support a government of dubious legitimacy.

Karzai was the clear front runner in the first round, which was held in August and marred by rigging. In October, Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Commission, which is sponsored by the UN, declared that Karzai did not get 50 % of the votes. The second round will be held in November.

Experts point out that the logistics will be difficult as snow fall is setting in. There are also security concerns: insurgents had been particularly aggressive ahead of – and during – the first round of the presidential elections (see interview with Marco Selinger in D+C/E+Z 10/2009, p. 392). Voter turnout was low in August and may drop further. (dem)

UN deals with Gaza The UN Human Rights Council has approved the report by South African jurist Richard Goldstone on the recent war in Gaza. It passed the document on to the Security Council and the UN General Assembly. In its resolution, however, the Human Rights Council failed to hold both parties accountable and only criticised Israel. Of 47 members, 25 voted in favour of the resolution, six against, eleven withheld their vote and five did not participate at all. Both the USA and the EU countries voted against the resolution.

Goldstone was the head of an investigation committee, which was commissioned by the Human Rights Council. His report accuses both the Israeli army and the radical-islamist Hamas of war crimes. The Palestinians welcomed the 575 page long report, while Israeli diplomats described it as “imbalanced and unfair”.

The report demands that both sides conduct credible enquiries of their own within the next six months. Should they fail to do so, the matter may be forwarded to the International Criminal Court. First, however, the Security Council would have to approve the document. In three weeks of fighting last winter, 13 Israelis and more than 1400 Palestinians lost their lives. (cir)

Cohesive structure “There is no ideal model for organising development cooperation at the national level.” This is the conclusion of a recent study published by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). Author Daniel Brombacher examines models of different donor governments. He argues that three factors are particularly important for efficiency and cohesion. First, the domestic set-up of ministerial leadership, second, the structure of implementing agencies, and third, good coordination. In his view, good coordination depends not least on the amount of decision-making power given to the embassies in developing countries. (cir)
»» www.swp-berlin.org

A voice for emerging economies The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank held their 22 annual meetings in Istanbul in October. Both institutions committed to giving emerging economies more say. Moreover, they demanded more money from the 186 member states. (cir)

Nigerians to benefit more from oil The Nigerian government plans to let the people of the Niger Delta receive a share in oil revenues. According to the Financial Times, 10 % of all profits will be transferred to a kind of trust fund local communities could access. Moreover, the government is apparently planning to improve rail links. With these measures the government hopes to stem acts of sabotage that affect the oil industry. According to This Day, a local newspaper, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta opposes the new policy.

The FT writes that the extraction of oil has dropped by 40 % in recent years, due to attacks. Nigeria’s government is currently negotiating concessions for more oil fields. China is one of the parties to have shown interest. The People’s Republic recently signed a deal with Guinea, promising $7 billion for infrastructure investments and gaining access to commodities in turn. (cir)