Introduction

The European Council on Foreign Relations today publishes the European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2010, the first comprehensive annual assessment of Europe's performance on the world stage.

The Scorecard - which looks at how member states and EU institutions contributed to the successes and failures of Europe's foreign policy - shows how preoccupation with economic crisis led to the marginalisation of foreign policy in national capitals.

The Scorecard grades Europe's ability

- Despite a late start of the spring season and the April and June civil conflict, the aggregate 2010 food crop production is estimated at normal levels, although significantly lower than the bumper harvest of 2009. The main wheat crop is put at 866 331 tonnes, similar to the average of the past five years but 18 percent down from 2009.

- Heavy rains in spring resulted in delayed sowing and reductions in the area planted. However, good precipitation in the remaining of the season offset the negative impact on yields of the late start of the planting.

Export prices of wheat have sharply increased since the beginning of July reflecting the impact of drought-reduced crops in the Russian Federation and subsequent decision by the country to ban wheat exports until next year's harvest. By 14 September the benchmark US wheat price (?2 HR winter), at USD 313, was about 78 percent higher than in late June when prices started their upward trend. However, at this level prices are still one-third below their peak of 2008. In the same

Context and methodology

The violence that took place in Osh and Jalalabad cities provoked significant human suffering and large-scale displacement in both cities and surroundings, mostly of Uzbek communities but also in other areas. The crisis has affected the livelihoods of the displaced, the host families and resident families living in areas where IDPs have moved. A rapid assessment was conducted on 9-10 July 2010 among 182 IDPs (both in collective centers and in individual shelters or in host families),

Executive Summary

The economic impact of the June events has been immediate. The overall damage to the local economy is as follows: 170 shops, six markets and more than 100 cafes and other sites damaged or destroyed in Osh alone. In addition to the direct damage to business sites, fear of reprisals has immobilized most sectors in and outside of the metropolitan areas. Transport of goods to and from the Southern regions of Kyrgyzstan has halted for most of June, and July from other regions

Executive Summary

The corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) market system is functioning, but at reduced capacity. The broken linkage from the Kazakhstan import markets has diminished retailers and producers access to the materials necessary for their trade, which is compounded by a reduction in the number of CGI processors operating after the emergency. With reduced access to supply, stocks of finished CGI and local production may not be sufficient to meet demand from reconstruction. A spike in demand

I. Background information

Kyrgyzstan, a multi-ethnic country of 5.5 million, has had a troubled recent history. In March 2005, the country experienced what became widely known internationally as the "Tulip Revolution". The sitting president Askar Akayev was swept from power by opposition protests originating in the southern part of the country. Opposition party leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev subsequently won presidential elections, and a new constitution limited presidential powers.

However, in 2010, protests began to build

Context

- The present update uses data collected by the Kyrgyz Integrated Household Survey (KIHS) between the last quarter of 2008 and the 3rd quarter of 2009.

- The reporting period takes place in the context of the global economic crisis which affected Kyrgyzstan's economy through a decline of exports (textile and construction materials), imports (reduced consumer demand) and remittances (slowdown of the construction sector in Russia where most Kyrgyz migrants work). On the positive side, the grain harvest was good in 2009 and inflation decelerated from 24.5%