Obama, Xi agree on climate but clash on rights, islands

Yahoo – AFP, Jerome Cartillier, 25 Sep 2015

US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold a joint

-press conference in the Rose Garden as part of a State Visit at the White

House in Washington, DC, September 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama and China's Xi Jinping vowed to fight global warming and halt commercial cyber-theft on Friday, but exchanged sharp words on human rights and territorial disputes.

At an extraordinary joint news conference, Obama chided China on its treatment of dissidents and insisted hacking attacks on US firms must stop, even as he thanked Xi for his commitment on climate change.

The world's top two economic powers are also its biggest polluters, and campaigners hailed their joint commitment to reduce emissions as a key step towards a global climate pact before the end of the year.

US President Barack Obama (R) and 

Chinese President Xi Jinping hold a

 meeting in the Oval Office of the

 White House in Washington, DC,

 September 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Saul Loeb)

This achievement was all the more remarkable given the tensions between the rival great powers over industrial espionage and China's aggressive moves to seize disputed territory in the South China Sea.

The red carpet and full ceremonial honors that welcomed Xi to the White House underlined the importance of the great powers' relationship, but the leaders made no effort to conceal the differences between them.

"We had a frank discussion about human rights as we have in the past," Obama said, branding China's authoritarian treatment of political dissidents and religious or regional minorities "problematic."

Provocatively, Obama directly cited the name of Beijing's number one bugbear -- the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader seen by China as a criminal separatist -- at the leaders' joint press conference.

"Even as we recognize Tibet as part of the People's Republic of China, we continue to encourage Chinese authorities to preserve the religious and cultural identity of the Tibetan people and to engage the Dalai Lama or his representatives," Obama said.

The two delegations issued a joint promise not to spy on each other's private enterprises for commercial gain, but here again, Obama used tough language, declaring: "I indicated it has to stop."

Xi protested that "China strongly opposes and combats the theft of commercial secrets and other kinds of hacking attacks."

Disputed islands

The Chinese leader also firmly pushed back on human rights criticism, warning reform would come on China's own timetable and without undermining its stability.

US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping review the troops 

during a State Arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in 

Washington, DC, September 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

"We must recognize that countries have different historical processes and realities, that we need to respect people of all countries in the rights to choose their own development path independently," he said.

There was also a sharp exchange of views over China's bid to extend its sovereignty over the South China Sea by building bases on reclaimed islands in areas disputed by Washington's southeast Asian allies.

"Islands in the South China Sea, since ancient times, are China's territory," Xi declared. "We have the right to uphold our own territorial sovereignty and lawful and legitimate maritime rights and interests."

Obama said the disputes must be settled in accordance with international statutes, saying: "I encouraged a resolution between claimants in these areas. We are not a claimant. We just want to make sure that the rules of the road are upheld."

Against this background of discord, the agreement on climate change -- both countries signed a "joint vision" ahead of December's UN climate summit in Paris, and China committed to a domestic "cap and trade" carbon exchange -- was all the more remarkable.

China will also set aside $3.1 billion as a fund to help developing countries fight climate change.

"If the world's two largest economies, energy consumers and carbon emitters come together like this, then there is no reason for other countries, whether developed or developing, to not do so as well," Obama said.

Environmental campaigners hailed the announcement.

US President Barack Obama (right) with Chinese President Xi Jinping, 

First Lady Michelle Obama and Madame Peng Liyuan (left) wave during a 

welcome ceremony at the White House in Washington for the first state visit 

on September 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Yuri Gripas)

Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the United States and others should take inspiration from the Chinese measures.

"This is strong medicine. China is promising decisive action," she said. "It lays to rest the flawed argument that Chinese pollution is an excuse for US inaction."

Out of kilter

Xi is seen in Washington as one of the strongest Chinese leaders in decades.

Even as the Chinese economy has slowed -- calling into question Xi and the Communist Party's technocratic bona fides -- the president has tightened his grip on power.

But his assertiveness has fueled a host of disputes that US officials say risk throwing the delicately balanced relationship out of kilter.

"At any one time we are cooperating and competing," said one senior US administration official.

"What we strive for is to make sure that competition doesn't define the relationship and that competition is taking place in a way that is healthy and is fair."

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Cheers as UN irons out roadmap to end poverty

Yahoo – AFP, 3 Aug 2015

Jubilant UN member states put the finishing touches to a hugely ambitious
roadmap aimed at wiping out poverty worldwide by 2030 and taking on climate
change (AFP Photo/Haidar Hamdani)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Jubilant UN member states put the finishing touches to a hugely ambitious roadmap aimed at wiping out poverty worldwide by 2030 and taking on climate change.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded the hard-fought agreement, saying it "encompasses a universal, transformative and integrated agenda that heralds an historic turning point for our world."

After a week of heated negotiations at UN headquarters in New York, experts and diplomats from the 193 member states adopted a draft about 30 pages long entitled "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."

To cheers, Kenyan Ambassador Macharia Kamau called it "really a historic moment." Kenya chaired the negotiations along with Ireland.

World leaders will attend a Sustainable Development Summit at the UN September 25-27 to adopt a sustainable agenda document, firing the starting gun on efforts to improve the lives of one billion people living on less than $1.25 a day, mainly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Negotiators set out 17 new sustainable development goals seeking to end poverty, promote wellbeing and safeguard the environment -- all by 2030.

"This is the People’s Agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind," proclaimed Ban of the multitrillion-dollar initiative.

The UN chief vowed that the September summit, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, "will chart a new era of sustainable development in which poverty will be eradicated, prosperity shared and the core drivers of climate change tackled."

The new 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals builds on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, which helped drag millions out of poverty.

But the new drive will go significantly further, targeting the causes of poverty and the need for development that works for all people.

Funding the massive effort will be key to its success and last month donor nations confirmed they aim to set aside 0.7 percent of gross national income for development aid, after several days of at-times fractious talks between rich nations and developing countries.

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World Economic Forum Gives SBY Global Statesmanship Award

Jakarta Globe, May 23, 2014

Indonesia's outgoing president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been
honored by the World Economic Forum. (Reuters Photo/Toru Hanai)

Manila. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was awarded the Global Statesmanship Award on Friday at the 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia for his achievements during his time in office.

He was the third recipient of the award since the WEF was established in 1971. The two other recipients were Felipe Calderon in 2012, when he was president of Mexico, and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2010, when he was president of Brazil.

“I stand before you now with a sense of pride for what Indonesia has become today,” said Yudhoyono, whose second five-year term ends in October. “In a world marked by political turbulence, economic uncertainty, and strategic tensions, Indonesia does have a good story to tell.

“We have achieved that critical point of no return in our democratic development. We have proved to ourselves and to the world that we do not have to choose between democracy and development, and that indeed we can have both political freedom and high economic growth at the same time.”

On Thursday, Yudhonoyo reiterated that the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) could reach its development agenda to double the region’s combined gross domestic product to around $4.4 trillion by 2030. With millions of poor people across the region, Asean could also try to reduce the region’s poverty rate to 9.3 percent in the same time frame, he said. World Bank data show 43.3 percent of Indonesia’s population lived on less than $2 a day in 2011, compared to 52.7 percent in 2009.

“But as an optimist, I do see the glass as half full,” Yudhoyono said on Thursday. “I believe our generation is now endowed with the resources and knowhow to beat age-old problems of poverty, deprivation and conflict.”

Indonesia has embarked on a plan to support economic growth, aid the poor, promote jobs and protect the environment, he said.

“The overall purpose is to attain sustainable growth with equity,” Yudhoyono said on Thursday. “By pursuing this strategy over the past 10 years, we have been able to stimulate growth, reduce inequity and alleviate people from poverty.”

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was presented the award at a launch sponsored by the Lippo Group, which is the parent company of the Jakarta Globe.

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Pope: The Bible Demands the Redistribution of Wealth

Pope Francis grounded his argument in the biblical story of Zacchaeus, a rich (and likely corrupt) tax collector who dramatically altered his economic behavior after encountering Jesus Christ.

Notion of Change, 10 May 2014

Pope Francis called for “the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits” on Friday, arguing that the Bible demands an economic system that cares for the “poorest and those most excluded.”

Francis made the comments while speaking before a gathering of several United Nations agency leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. As he reflected on the U.N.’s target for Future Sustainable Development Goals, the first Latin American pope asked those present to resist participating in an “economy of exclusion” and to strive to have “a real impact on the structural causes of poverty and hunger.”

“In the case of global political and economic organization, much more needs to be achieved, since an important part of humanity does not share in the benefits of progress and is in fact relegated to the status of second-class citizens,” Francis said.

Francis grounded his argument in the biblical story of Zacchaeus, a rich (and likely corrupt) tax collector who dramatically altered his economic behavior after encountering Jesus Christ. According to Luke 19:1-10, Zacchaeus was overcome by Jesus’ kindness, prompting the wealthy man to publicly proclaim that he would give half his possessions to the poor and pay back anyone he defrauded four times over.

“…Zacchaeus made a radical decision of sharing and justice, because his conscience had been awakened by the gaze of Jesus,” Francis said of the story. “This same spirit should be at the beginning and end of all political and economic activity.”

The Zacchaeus story is but one of many instances where the Bible demands for the redistribution of resources to those in need. In Matthew 19:21, Jesus tells a young man “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven,” and in Luke 3:10-11, he proclaims to an assembled crowd “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” In addition, one of Jesus’ most famous miracles is a the “feeding of the multitude,” or where he and his disciples manage to feed five thousand hungry people with five loaves of bread and two fish.

Francis’ words speak directly to growing concern over economic inequality. In the United States alone, the richest 1 percent of the population—a group which controls about 40 percent of the country’s wealth and owns about half of all stocks, bonds, and mutual funds—saw their income grow by 86.1 percent between 1993 and 2012. In that same time period, the incomes of the rest of the country—the bottom 50 percent of which own only .5 percent of investments—grew just 6.6 percent. This sort of wealth disparity is also a global problem: according to a recent study by Oxfam, the 85 richest people on the planet are worth nearly as much as the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population.

Pope Francis has made moral economics and concern for the poor a chief focus of his ministry since he ascended to the papacy in March 2013. Stories abound of him dining with the homeless and sneaking out of the Vatican to serve the needy, and he even published an entire apostolic exhortation on just economic practices late last year. In it, he argues that trickle-down economics has “never been confirmed by the facts” and asks “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”

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Li Keqiang's Africa visit set to promote new ties

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-05-04

Chinese premier Li Keqiang chairs a forum in Chongqing, April 28. (File photo/CNS)

China and Africa will sign cooperation agreements in fields of road, railway, aviation and electric power during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Africa, according to a press release on Sunday.

Li will pay official visits to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya from May 4 to 11. This is the first time for Li to visit Africa since taking office last year.

The relations between the two sides have entered a "golden period", said Li in an interview with African media before the trip. He said China is the largest developing country and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Both China and Africa face the urgent task of developing economy and realizing modernization.

Since entering the new century, China and Africa have seized the historic opportunities presented by the deepening of globalization, worked together and helped each other achieve win-win outcome, he said, adding that both China and Africa have benefited a lot from cooperation.

China is at the critical stage of comprehensively deepening reform and speeding up the transformation of the economic development model. Africa, on its part, has also started its new path of seeking strength through unity and promoting development for renewal, said the premier.

China-Africa cooperation is thus faced with new opportunities of making great strides forward, he said.

"During my visit, I will work with leaders of the African states and the AU, and Chinese and African business representatives in an earnest, practical and enterprising spirit to review the past experience, identify room for improvement and discuss new areas, channels and formalities of China-Africa comprehensive cooperation so as to upgrade our cooperation," he said.

According to Li, China and Africa will expand exchanges and cooperation in poverty reduction for common development. Over 100 million people in China still live below the poverty line.

Africa is also faced with many difficulties and challenges on the road toward the Millennium Development Goals, the premier said, adding that all sides are committed to developing economy and improving people's livelihood, which makes poverty reduction one of the highlights of China-Africa cooperation.

China is ready to share with Africa its experience on poverty reduction and agricultural development, enhance agricultural cooperation with Africa and help Africa train technical and managerial personnel on agriculture, he said. "We hope poverty reduction will help Africa achieve sustainable development and bring the African people a more dignified life."

Li said China and Africa will strengthen industrial and commercial cooperation and promote Africa's industrialization and manufacturing sector.

Africa has entered the fast track of growth and its modernization process is gaining momentum, he said, noting that China is ready to bring into full play its advantages and take an active part in Africa's infrastructure development so as to promote connectivity on the African continent.

"Through infrastructure building, we will promote industrial cooperation and help Africa to focus on developing labor-intensive manufacturing, which will create jobs and boost consumption," he said.

China will also create new ways of investment and financing cooperation to help Africa address the funding shortfalls, and the two countries will enhance cooperation in human resources and eco-environment so as to sustain the momentum of Africa's long-term development, Li said.

Africa has the biggest potential in human resources. China is ready to train more professionals of multiple types for African countries, and provide more vocational education tailored for African young people, so as to help Africa fully and durably unleash the population dividends.

As one saying goes, the key to people-to-people exchanges lies in heart-to-heart communication, Li said, noting that China will roll out a series of projects on people-to-people exchanges and cooperation to enrich exchanges between the two peoples and promote mutual understanding and friendship.

Green has always been the true color of Africa. China will have closer cooperation with Africa in this field and provide funding to promote Africa's efforts to protect its wild animal resources and address the challenges of climate change, so that a beautiful China and a beautiful Africa will go hand in hand as we assist each other in development, said the premier.

Cheng Hong, who is accompanying her
husband Li Keqiang during his Africa tour,
arrives in Ethiopia on May 4. (Photo/Xinhua)

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"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes.

The next one: You're going to heal a continent. Watch for it. It begins. Watch for major shift in Africa. We have said this before, even within the meetings I spoke in what you call the United Nations. Africa has never even been a potential player in the economic field, because it has been sick. What happens when you heal a continent? I'm going to tell you. Suddenly, the people on that continent also want what you have - government that works, peace, their own homes, schools, hospitals, and even banks where they can borrow from. They don't have any of those now, not really. Everything with substance is from somewhere else. That means you're going to have a continent that's going to arise that will become a major player on the stage of Earth's finances and political influence - an entire continent with all the resources on it, with even the potential for unification of common purpose, much like what you have now in your EU. I'm giving you information, and when it happens, again, I say you'll remember where you heard it.

Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently.. ...”

UN declares access to clean water a human right

Yahoo News, 28 July 2010

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The UN General Assembly on Wednesday recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right.

Egyptian girls fill water containers from a cistern delivering drinking water at al-Rahawe village, some 40 kilometres northeast Cairo, in May 2010. The UN General Assembly on Wednesday recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right. (AFP/File/Khaled Desouki)

After more than 15 years of debate on the issue, 122 countries voted in favor of a compromise Bolivian resolution enshrining the right, while 41 abstained.

The text "declares the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life."

The resolution laments the fact that 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that more 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation.

It notes that roughly two million people die every year from diseases caused by unsafe water and sanitation, most of them small children.

And it points to the pledge made by world leaders in 2000 as part of the poverty-reduction Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce by half, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access tosafe drinking water and sanitation.

The resolution urges states and international organizations to provide financial and technological assistance to help developing countries "scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable water and sanitation for all."

Teams at eight stations on the river were working to collect the barrels

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G8 summit pledges new aid to mothers and young children

BBC News, by Andrew Walker, Saturday, 26 June 2010 09:38 UK

Toronto Improving the health of mothers
and children is a leading development goal

The G8 summit has agreed to provide a further $5bn (£3.3bn) over five years towards improving the health of mothers and young children in the developing world.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement at the summit in Toronto.

The funds are intended to help tackle one of the international targets known as the UN Millennium Development Goals.

But anti-poverty groups say the pledge does not meet the scale of the problem.

Together with other donations, including one from the Gates Foundation, the full pledge will amount to $7.3bn.

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce by three-quarters the death rate among mothers and young children.

Mr Harper said he would like to achieve even more.

"We are committed to moving the world towards the day when women in developing countries will not die or suffer disabilities from pregnancy or childbirth," he told reporters.

However development lobby groups say they are disappointed by the $5bn pledge.

One said the initiative failed to meet the needs of many mothers and children in the poorest parts of the world.

Campaigners have also heavily criticised the G8 for falling short on a promise made at a previous summit to increase total development aid.

Asia-Pacific MDG progress under threat from global economic crisis

Asian Development Bank

ESCAP, ADB and UNDP joint Report calls for strengthening social protection

MANILA (UN ESCAP Information Services) – A joint report by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns that the global economic crisis could trap an additional 21 million people in the Asia-Pacific region in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.25 a day.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10, launched today in Manila, examines the toll that the global economic crisis has taken on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Produced by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), ADB and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the report identifies opportunities for action – showing how countries of Asia and the Pacific can better protect themselves from this and future crises.

“This report shows that, while we are at a moment of crisis for the MDGs we also have an opportunity,” says Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP at the report launch. “As this crisis has exposed many vulnerabilities in the region – we can now address them and direct this recovery towards a stronger sustainable development path for the Asia-Pacific region.”

"Most stimulus measures have focused on areas other than social expenditures," says Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice President. "If we are to address the human impacts of the economic slowdown and achieve the MDGs, then social spending needs to be stepped up substantially."

"Asia has much weaker social protection compared to other regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe,” says Ajay Chhibber, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific and UN Assistant Secretary-General. “Without better protection people fall back into poverty with economic crisis, health pandemics and natural disasters and cannot recover easily, making the achievement of MDGs more difficult."

The report notes that long-term social protection can actually strengthen Asia’s resilience against future shocks. Yet the report finds that across the region, only 20 per cent of the unemployed and underemployed have access to labour market programmes such as unemployment benefits, and only 30 per cent of older people receive pensions.

If fiscal stimulus packages have a strong component of social expenditures, notes the report, this is likely to produce a double dividend – not only boosting growth more rapidly but also accelerating progress towards the MDGs.

Prior to the economic crisis, the region as a whole had been making notable gains, including being on track to achieve three important targets: gender parity in secondary education, ensuring universal access of children to primary school, and halving the proportion of people living below the $1.25-a-day poverty line. However, the economic crisis undermined the momentum.

Asia and the Pacific is still the home to the largest number – more than 50 per cent – of people, both rural and urban, without basic sanitation, of under-5 children who are underweight, of people infected with TB, of people living on less than $1.25 a day, and of rural people without access to clean water, according to the report.

It notes that in 2009 the crisis trapped up to an additional 17 million people in extreme poverty, and in 2010, another 4 million, giving a total of 21 million or roughly the equivalent to the population of Australia.

The most adversely affected segment of the population is women, who constitute the majority of Asia’s low-skilled, low-salaried, and temporary workforce that can easily be laid off during economic downturns. Moreover the crisis has reduced the demand for migrant labour – and women form nearly two-thirds of the total Asian migrant population.

The report points to opportunities for the region to protect itself and the MDG progress from future crisis though regional cooperation. Regional cooperation would also be particularly valuable for the trade in food, and could include grain banks that are maintained in each country but readily accessible to others, notes the report.

Expanding Asian monetary and financial coordination would be particularly useful to reduce external shocks such as with the global financial crisis. While fiscal stimulus is the most practical way of filling the gap left by declining exports, in the medium and long term, countries will need to generate domestic demand in a more sustainable way.

Countries can consider diversifying their export markets to become less dependent on demand in the West, suggests the report. They can boost trade within the region by liberalizing trade regimes and improving transport links, simplifying customs and inspection procedures.

By lowering trade barriers and creating more opportunity for the Asia-Pacific region to invest within itself, there can be a greater insulation against such crisis in the future.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10 is the fourth regional MDG report for Asia and the Pacific produced by the three agencies.

For more information please go to: http://www.mdgasiapacific.org/.

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A woman cleaning her child in a North Jakarta slum. According to the city’s Public Works Office data, 70 percent of the country is forced to wash in contaminated water. (Photo: Afriadi Hikmal, JG)

Focus on microfinance

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 18 December 2009 - 1:46pm | By RNW English section

Microfinance

Five years after the 'Year of Microcredit' Radio Netherlands Worldwide takes the debate on microfinance a step further.

The theme will be central to RNW broadcasts via radio and the internet from January 2010 and Radio Netherlands is organising a special meeting on the issue.

In this way, the international broadcaster wants to draw the attention of a wide audience to the opportunities and difficulties involved in microfinance.

Meeting

Radio Netherlands Worldwide is organising the meeting ''Microfinance: Who profits?" in the Peace Palace in The Hague on 25 January 2010. Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima and Development Minister Bert Koenders will address the meeting.

In addition, distinguished international experts will consider the question who benefits from microfinance. Tortilla baker Linda Flores from Nicaragua will speak on how microcredit changed her life.

If you want to follow the meeting live on 25 January, watch the live steam in this web dossier.

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Princess Máxima of the Netherlands will deliver a speech at a meeting on microcredit hosted by Radio Netherlands Worldwide on 25 January 2010.

The event, which takes place in the International Court of Justice building in The Hague, is part of a multimedia project aiming to present the possibilities of microcredits to a worldwide audience.

Development Aid Minister Bert Koenders will also speak at the conference, where 150 invitees from all over the world will be focusing on the question who is benefiting from microfinancing.

On 5 January Radio Netherlands Worldwide will launch a web dossier in four languages about microfinancing on its website, www.rnw.nl.

Microcredits, small loans under favourable conditions, enable individual people in poor countries to set up their own companies and earn a living.

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