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Revisiting privatization’s claims

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sep 04 (IPS) – Advocates made exaggerated claims that privatization would reduce governments’ fiscal problems while ensuring more efficient, productive and competitive economies by promoting private entrepreneurship, innovation and investments.Several arguments have been advanced to justify privatization since the 1980s. Privatization has been advocated as an easy means to:
1. Reduce the government’s financial and administrative burden, particularly by undertaking and maintaining services and infrastructure;
2. Promote competition, improve efficiency and increase productivity in providing public services;
3. Stimulate private entrepreneurship and investment to accelerate economic growth;
4. Help reduce the public sector’s presence and size, with its monopolistic tendencies and bureaucratic support.

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How Guyana Must Prepare to Cope With the ‘Jeopardies and Perils’ of Oil Discovery

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sep 03 (IPS) – Recent huge offshore oil discoveries are believed to have set Guyana– one of the poorest countries in South America–on a path to riches. But they have also highlighted the country’s development challenges and the potential impact of an oil boom.

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China-Africa Cooperation a Vibrant Partnership for Sustainable Development

BEIJING, Sep 03 (IPS) – António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in an address to the China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing This Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is an embodiment of two major priorities of the United Nations: to pursue fair globalization and to promote development that leaves no one behind in the context of a rules-based system of international relations supported by strong multilateral institutions.

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The Plight of Women & Young People in the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

DHAKA, Aug 31 (IPS) – Asa Torkelsson is the representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in BangladeshAugust 25, 2018 marked one year since violence erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, triggering the massive Rohingya exodus to neighbouring Bangladesh. As the crisis continues with no immediate end in sight, it is crucial to expand and sustain health and life skills services for Rohingya women, girls and youth to locate opportunities amid challenges.

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How Accurate Information About the Weather is Yielding Resilience for Zambia’s Smallholders

PEMBA, Zambia, Aug 30 (IPS) – Just having better information about when and for how long it will rain is proving the difference between success and failure among smallholder farmers in southern Zambia. Empowered with timely information about the weather ahead of the 2017/18 farming season, 56-year-old Fainess Muzyamba of Pemba district, ending up ditching her traditional maize crop for sweet potatoes.

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Amid Chronic Violence, Millions of Afghans Face Risks of Drought Related Displacement

OSLO, Aug 30 (IPS) – Enayatullah Azad is Media, Information & Advocacy Coordinator, Norwegian Refugee CouncilAmid a precarious security situation in Afghanistan, the worst drought in recent history, that hit two out of three provinces in Afghanistan in July, has destabilized the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, some of whom have already been displaced.

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Striking the Right Note: a History of Paper Money

WASHINGTON DC, Aug 29 (IPS) – TADEUSZ GALEZA is a research officer in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department. JAMES CHAN is a senior information management assistant in the IMF’s Statistics Department.From strings of shells in the Solomon Islands to large stone disks on the Micronesian isle of Yap or wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in Italy, money has taken many forms throughout history.

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