Gamani Corea’s Noble Mission: Unfinished Then But May Be Irrelevant Now

By W.A. Wijewardena –April 7, 2014 

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

An economist with a noble mission

Gamani Corea, by any comparison, Sri Lanka’s most respected economist of international renown, embarked on a noble mission when he assumed the post of Secretary General of UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – in 1973. That was to uplift the conditions of hundreds of poor countries in the world which had been mercilessly hit by markets by depressing the prices of primary commodities they had been supplying to the rest of the world. The result was for them as a group to undergo economic hardships and unexpected losses in welfare whenever the prices fell in the market. In the opposite, they had a good time when they went up.

International division of labour

Dr. Gamani Corea
It was a time when the world had been divided into two groups which economists call ‘international division of labour’.
According to this division, one group produced manufactured products and supplied them to the rest of the world. This group comprised the rich world. The other group produced primary commodities – ranging from cereals to agricultural produce to minerals – and supplied them to the rest of the world. This latter group consisted of poor countries in the world. What was observed in the global markets was that while the prices of manufactured products continued to rise or remained stable, the prices of primary commodities had been depressed or had undergone frequent changes from increases to decreases showing a high degree of volatility.

Unfavourable terms of trade for poor countries

Sri Lanka, victim of unfavourable TOT Read More

How Much Is That Bottle Of Water?

By Thahira Cader -April 7, 2014

Thahira Cader

“Water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations” -New York Press[i]

It is the 21^stcentury and according to UNICEF statistics[ii] 783 million people do not have access to safe drinking water. Each day at least 5,000 children die from preventable water and sanitation-related diseases. The world is plummeting towards a situation of extreme water scarcity. Indeed, between now and 2025, it is expected that we will need 17% more water to produce food for the swelling populace of developing countries. Meanwhile, total water consumption will increase disproportionately by some 40%. In optimal conditions, the average human being can survive up to a maximum of six days without drinking water. The rising levels of pollution, steadily expanding populations and unprecedented climate change, however, have combined to make the conditions we thrive in far from optimal. The odds are daunting. And as we summersault into a future in which access to clean drinking water promises to be uncertain, new talking points are developing. Among the many intriguing questions that are being asked today, one, “Is drinking water a commodity or a human right?” takes centre stage.

The fundamental role played by water in the sustenance of all life forms is obvious: water is life. Thus, it is natural to assume that people shouldn’t have to pay a price for this basic right. Unfortunately, the real state of affairs is far from the ideal, which is that clean drinking water should not have to be bought under any circumstances.

The United Nations (UN) sustained a series of dialogues spanning multiple decades on this issue. The result was that binding resolutions were passed in 2010 declaring, “the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity.” [iii]  Water facilitates the provision of other fundamental human rights, thus to deprive people of access to clean water is to impose limitations on their right to live.

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