Agriculture is a vital development tool for achieving the Millennium Development Goal that calls for halving by 2015 the share of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger. That is the overall message of this year's World Development Report (WDR), the 30th in the series. Three out of every four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas, and most of them depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. This Report provides guidance to governments and the international community on designing and implementing agriculture-for-development

EC policy endorses local and regional procurement of food aid commodities (LRP), a practice that is believed to assist in the development of local agriculture and livelihoods in supplying countries. The research hypothesis for this study was that such procurement of food aid can make a much larger contribution to the economies of developing countries, and poor people in particular, and that policies can be put in place to increase such benefits.

Food aid agencies can adjust tendering procedures to mitigate certain problems, but in countries where they are

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) considers the Mine Ban Treaty the only viable comprehensive framework for achieving a mine-free world. The treaty and the global effort to eradicate antipersonnel mines have yielded impressive results. A new international norm is emerging, as many governments not party to the Mine Ban Treaty are taking steps consistent with the treaty, and an increasing number of non-state armed groups are also embracing a ban.

Further progress towards elimination of antipersonnel mines was made in 2006-2007. Four more states (Iraq, Kuwait,

I. Introduction

1. A significant increase in the numbers of persons of concern to UNHCR brought new challenges in 2006. While there was a 14 per cent increase in refugee numbers from the previous year, the Office's involvement, together with other humanitarian partners, in protecting and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) under the inter-agency cluster approach, resulted in a doubling of IDP figures. Thanks to better data capturing, many more stateless people have been identified, also swelling numbers.

2. Despite a plethora of complex challenges,

Sub-Saharan Africa is a highly complex and diverse Region that is a critical priority for the development community, as it has some of the world's poorest countries and remains behind on most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A major drag on Africa's development is the underperformance of the critical agriculture sector, which accounts for a large share of GDP and employment in the Region. This study assesses the development effectiveness of World Bank assistance in addressing constraints to agricultural development in Africa over the period of fiscal years 1991-2006.

Although economic factors have proven to be crucial factors influencing the conflict proneness of a country, both military cease fires and peace agreements tend to neglect the economic and socioeconomic aspects of war, while emphasizing mainly political and military issues. However, peacebuilding and conflict prevention measures applied by the international community cannot limit themselves to ending open violence and cutting conflict profiteers from their power and income. In addition, alternative social, economic and political structures must

The intention of this Educator's Guide is to make prominent writings of field journalists on war crimes accessible to youth, young adults, and future decision makers, as well as to inform the general public.

There are eight thematic chapters: weapons; violence against civilians; child soldiers; sexual violence; terrorism and torture; genocide; international courts and tribunals; and humanitarian intervention. Each of the thematic chapters is linked to the second edition of Crimes of War and contains the following elements: an essential question,

This briefing seeks to explore the particular challenge associated with realising the Responsibility to Protect in Regional Peacekeeping, especially if conducted under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. It concludes that while Chapter VIII of the UN Charter enables collaborative task sharing between global and regional organisations, and the UN encourages coordination, there are only few appropriate governance arrangements in place that ensure the accountability and effectiveness of regionally led responses to conflict. The paper ends with key recommendations on how to