Development assistance is contingent upon the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery mechanisms. EU regional policy offers an appealing paradigm of how to achieve tangible outcomes with sound financial management

Following unanimous approval of the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs) on the Right to Adequate Food by FAO member states, with civil society's broad support, the question of «next steps» arises. To explore how to put this important new tool to use, the German government, with support from FAO and German NGOs, organized its fourth International Workshop on «Policies Against Hunger», held in June 2005 in Berlin.

Few aspects of development policy are better furnished with empirical evidence than the interplay between support for agriculture in the context of rural development and the reduction of poverty and hunger. It is therefore surprising that German Development Cooperation has today largely disengaged from activities in this area: Despite the evidence that practically nothing is more effective and sustainable than combating poverty where it is most often found, namely in the rural areas of poor countries,we fail to take that route.

Four billion people who live on less than two US dollars per day represent in total an enormous purchasing power. Multinational corporations such as Nestlé, Unilever, Danone and Dr. Oetker discovered these markets long ago and now seek to attract this customer group with new products and marketing strategies. It is time to take a close look at the effects of this development on poverty

Fragile states, posing a major challenge of our times, are increasingly becoming a focus of attention in international politics and development cooperation. But very often, the viewpoint of the people affected by fragile statehood is not sufficiently heard. Parts of the international community prioritize their own security policy interests, the motto being the «war on terrorism». People in fragile states, by contrast, are primarily concerned with their own survival and the quest for development opportunities for themselves and their communities.

In November 2004, after a two-year drafting process, the FAO Council adopted the Voluntary Guidelines on the right to food - in effect, a new legal instrument for defending and enforcing the right to food.This article addresses the following questions:
What will this instrument be capable of achieving? Will the effort expended in creating the Guidelines prove to have been worthwhile? And, finally, will the implementation of this new approach to human rights contribute towards reducing the numbers of people suffering from hunger?

Morocco is one of the African countries in which implementation of the UNCCD has progressed the furthest. In the Moroccan National Action Programme, integrated rural development, poverty reduction, drought mitigation and conservation of natural resources are the four cornerstones of effective desertification control.The country has succeeded in building up strong partnerships with most of its bilateral and multilateral development partners.

Interest in the notion of «state failure» has seen a dramatic upsurge in recent years. As a rule, changes in global framework conditions are held responsible for this decrease in state control and legitimacy. But the prominence of this topic in the international debate easily overlooks the fact that the phenomenon of failing states is not new, but has existed since the division of the world into nation-states. Moreover, it is almost impossible to establish a uniform pattern of state failure.

Negotiations to establish a set of Voluntary Guidelines on the human right to food, held under the auspices of FAO, were successfully completed in autumn 2004, with all 174 FAO member countries signing the final document. However, the negotiations proved to be far from straightforward, as many countries were anxious about the legally binding nature of the Guidelines.

Somalia is the longest known case in modern times of a country whose central state has ceased to exist for many years. Although Somalia is often said to be a country in chaos and anarchy, a new form of social organization emerged here some time ago. Indeed, many Somalis appear to have adapted well to their country's statelessness.

After ten years of civil war in which grave human rights violations and atrocities were committed, especially against women and children, Sierra Leone was regarded as a «failed state». A massive UN peacekeeping mission managed to demobilize the combatants in 2002 and peace was restored. Public institutions have begun to resume their functions and the economy is showing signs of recovery. Nonetheless, the country's stability and structures are still fragile. So how can development cooperation contribute towards stabilizing Sierra Leone?

Development policy has to deal with the full spectrum of fragility in developing countries, which can range from individual deficits, for example in guaranteeing security, to the total collapse of state structures.The scope available to development policy and other external actors is always limited. Nevertheless, starting points are often on hand to achieve some measure of stability and help overcome weak state structures.