Washington Consensus
Washington Consensus refers to a reform package created in 1989 in order to initiate an economic upturn in Latin America. The measures, agreed upon by affected states, were predominantly aimed at market liberalization (deregulation, privatization), disciplined housekeeping and improved legal security.
Win-win-situation
Win-win-situation (with reference to game theory) refers to a situation in which multiple actors profit as a result of a specific decision or measure. Frequently, although not exclusively, a certain amount of cooperation between participants is required (i.e. prisoner dilemma). The original Marshall Plan can be viewed as a win-win-situation, where the results of reconstruction aid in war-torn Europe aligned with the economic and strategic interests of the USA.
World Bank
The World Bank (officially titled âInternational Bank for Reconstruction and Developmentâ) is part of a special organization within the United Nations referred to as theWorld Bank Group together with four other agencies, but known as a Bretton Woods Institution within the International Monetary Fund. Established in 1944, the task of the World Bank is to support developing nations obtain loans, subsidies and technical aid. In exchange for support project benefits, nations must fulfil extensive conditions prescribed on an individual basis, mostly aimed at economic liberalization.
World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is composed of five formal autonomous organizations, namely the:
⢠World Bank (IBRD),
⢠The International Development Organization (IDA),
⢠The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
⢠The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The shareholders are the 184 member states, the largest of which is the USA.
World Bank website
World Business Council on Sustainable Development
The World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) was formed in January 1995 by merging the Business council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) in Geneva with the World Industry Council for the Environment (WICE) in Paris. It is currently composed of more than 160 international corporations, including the German companies Adidas-Salomon, Allianz, BASF, Bayer, DaimlerChrysler, Deguss, Deutsche Bank, Gerling-Konzern Insurances, HeidelbergCement, Henkel and Volkswagen. The WBCSD sees itself as a pioneer and catalyst of sustainable development. In accordance with the results of the Rio Conference and Agenda 21, the WBCSD wants to promote eco-efficiency, innovation and corporate social responsibility. (According to the definition of sustainability from the Kathey Beys Aachen Foundation).
WBCSD website.
World Summit on the Information Society
A World Summit on the Information Society was first held in Geneva in 2003, co-hosted by the United Nations and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The objectives of the conference were to discuss global societal developments resulting from modern information technology. In addition to a declaration of general principles, a plan of action was adopted for achieving political control of the information society in order to meet the Millennium Goals and other development goals. A second âphaseâ is currently being planned for 2005 in Tunisia.
World Summit on the Information Sociaty website
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Ten years after the adoption of Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) convened in Johannesburg, 2002, to assess the extent the goals had been achieved and what else needed be done in order to implement worldwide sustainable development. In addition to the topics discussed in Rio, NGOs pushed for the summit to address the question of political and ethical responsibility of corporations and the mutual relationship of the international environmental protection agreement and WTO authorization.
World Summit on Sustainable Development website
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) emerged in 1995 from the GATT treaty, which was signed in 1947 as a step towards establishing the International Trade Organization. The WTO has 147 members, all of which are nations (with the exception of the EU), charged with the regulation of trade and economic relations. The members stipulate that possible trade advantages (e.g. low tariffs) be granted to all participating nations and that imported goods not be treated unequally to similar domestic goods. Unlike any other international institution, the Dispute Settlement Body enables the WTO to enforce its own decisions via internal arbitration courts.
WTO website
Zedillo Report:
Former Mexican President, Enersto Zedillo placed the so-called Zedillo Report at the forefront of the UN Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey 2002) by order of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. According to this report, the development goals of poor nations targeted for 2015 (see millennium goals) can only be reached if the rich nations increase aid by fifty billion dollars per year.
Other topics he addressed were universal public values like peace, protection from contagious diseases and preservation of the environment; values that the world cannot be sufficiently provided with under conditions of unrestricted international competition.
http://www.un.org/reports/financing/full_report.pdf
The Report as PDF
Zedillo Report:
Former Mexican President, Enersto Zedillo placed the so-called Zedillo Report at the forefront of the UN Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey 2002) by order of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. According to this report, the development goals of poor nations targeted for 2015 (see millennium goals) can only be reached if the rich nations increase aid by fifty billion dollars per year.
Other topics he addressed were universal public values like peace, protection from contagious diseases and preservation of the environment; values that the world cannot be sufficiently provided with under conditions of unrestricted international competition.
http://www.un.org/reports/financing/full_report.pdf
The Report as PDF
