Development and Cooperation


	Contributions from the Column Facts and trends New old hope development aid? WTO negotiations on agriculture stalled Chair of Development in Utrecht Africa Days at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Learn from the South: a citizens' budget for Berlin UN Anti-Corruption Convention: dispute over monitoring First German investigation into bribery abroad Voluntary self-regulation Corruption threatens to hamstring Sri Lanka reconstruction		UN Anti-Corruption Convention: dispute over monitoring Transparency International (TI) says "unaccountable governments are threatening to derail the UN Anti-Corruption Convention". In a Press statement on the latest round of negotiations on a global convention against corruption, in Vienna, March 10-21, TI complains that "many countries are opposing meaningful arrangements for the monitoring of the proposed Convention". It says some Asian and Arab states aim to decide on monitoring only after a ratification, and are blocking in particular a joint proposal by Argentina, Benin, Cameroon, the Netherlands, Norway and Austria to set up an institution especially for monitoring. Jeremy Pope, of the TI Centre for Innovation and Research, said the opposing countries should be honest and admit that they are unprepared to accept commitments that will be reported upon and monitored, and withdraw from the negotiations. While a third country group, including Germany, France, the USA, Japan and some British Commonwealth countries, agrees to regular reporting, it also opposes a monitoring organisation. So that the negotiations on the Convention can continue in Vienna as planned (July 21-August 1), an informal working group whose meetings will be held in camera has been set up to deal with this issue. The Convention is scheduled to be ready for signing in Mexico in December. (uke)