Press Releases

UNDP Report examines links between Aid, Trade and Security in an Uncertain World

Ottawa - 2005, September 6 -- The 2005 edition of the Human Development Report will officially be released in Ottawa on Wednesday, September 7. HDR 2005 -International Cooperation at a Crossroads - makes a call for reshaping international cooperation on three pillars: aid, trade and security. It asserts that inequality is at the heart of ineffective actions to fight against poverty and that struggles over economic resources and political power are most often at the root of conflict.

The 16th edition of the annual Human Development Report, commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), opens with an analysis of the state of human development and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. It goes on to examine issues that the dynamics of globalization have brought to the forefront of policy agendas in both rich and poor countries alike: development assistance, which suffers from chronic under-financing and poor quality; international trade and its potential to increase the share of the world's poorest countries in global prosperity; and security, arguing that a new security framework is needed recognizing that poverty, social breakdown and civil conflict are core components of the global security threat.

The Human Development Report 2005 includes and updates the widely respected Human Development Index (HDI) that compares the relative levels of human development in 177 countries, and presents data tables on various aspects of human development. Canada has regularly stood at, or near the top of the HDI (4th in 2004).

THE PUBLIC LAUNCH OF THE REPORT

David Morrison, UNDP's Director of Communications, will officially launch the 2005 Report. His presentation will be followed by comments by Ms. Diane Vincent, Executive Vice-President at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and by the Hon. David Pratt, Advisor to the Secretary General and Special Ambassador with the Canadian Red Cross. The panel will be moderated by Kathryn White, Executive Director of UNA-Canada.

DATE: Wednesday, September 7, 2005

TIME: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

PLACE: National Press Club (La Bibliothèque), 165 Sparks Street, 3rd Floor

Copies of the Report will be available on site for the media only from 9:00 a.m.

For more information, or to arrange for interviews with Mr. Morrison, please contact Joan Broughton, Public Information Officer, UNA-Canada at: (613) 232-5751 ext 230 or info@unac.org

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More information on the annual Human Development Report