Taxes
Taxes are levied by states or administrations by applying a percentage or absolute surcharge to exact prices for the benefit of the public budget and not the payee. The aim is then either the resulting income itself or a decrease in the demand after the goods have become more expensive. Taxes are to be differentiated from duties (the levied lump sum that is not focused on specific "taxed" economic transactions) and tariff rates (reciprocates for the state). (related link: Tobin Tax)
Terra
Latin word meaning 'earth'.
Terra tax
The Terra tax is one of many recommended measures for financing sustainable development aid. This would be a world wide tax on international trade of goods and services. See also fundraising.
Tobin Tax
The Tobin Tax is a tax on international foreign exchange transactions, suggested by James Tobin (1918-2002; Nobel Prize winner for economics) in 1978. All trans-national money transfers would be burdened with a small standard tax. The resulting profits would then be transferred though the World Bank and spent at their discretion. The concept of the Global Marshall Plan Initiative plans to implement such a tax and use the revenue for the co-financing of development. Tobin distanced himself from the Tobin Tax the last years of his life because more recent discussions differed from the original concept on basic points: those aimed at speculation containment and the control of currency exchange flows, which cause problems especially for smaller economic systems. France and Belgium have agreed to implement a Tobin tax, but it requires implementation by all of the EU members.
Transfer from Special Drawing Rights
When nations fall into debt (e.g. due to a lack of export revenue) they can call upon the special drawing rights of the IMF in order to settle their international debt. SDR are only available to each state under specific conditions; it is however, relative to the contribution this state makes to the IMF. Poor nations which are frequently met with payment difficulties have less SDR available than other nations that do not need to use SDR. For this reason, it has been suggested that the SDR of stronger states be transferred to the accounts of poorer states who are more likely to need them.
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) emerged in 1965 as the central headquarters for the project planning, financing and coordination of all UN aid programs. It relies on voluntary donations from member states, which it uses to support developing countries, especially the poorest countries, providing guidance, training and technical equipment. The UNDP represented the interests of development policies vis-Ă -vis the world public with their development policy publications (e.g. a yearly report since 1990 over human development, the Human Development Report)
The focal points are fighting poverty, environmental regeneration, and the achievement of equal opportunity for women.
Homepage for UNDP
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a UN special organization whose activities include the promotion of education, science, communication, information and culture. In the area of education, UNESCO especially promotes “elementary education for everyone.” Other areas of concentration include health education for drug and AIDS prevention and rebuilding the education infrastructure in disaster and crisis regions. [source: Wikipedia 09 Aug 2004]
Homepage for UNESCO
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1972 as a global UN sub-organization directly under the General Assembly. UNEP proposes environmental protection measures and coordinates their implementation.
Homepage for UNEP
United Nations Fund for Population Activites
The United Nations Population Fund (abbreviation of UNFPA for United Nations Fund for Population Activities) was established in 1969 as part of the UNDP and placed directly under the UN General Assembly two years later. It is a relatively small, de-centrally organized program for the formulation and support of programs designed to control demographic development. In recent years, the needs of individuals, especially education for girls and strengthening of women’s roles have been successfully placed at the focal point of UNFPA activities. The main objectives of the UNFPA are healthy reproduction, death rate reduction of infants and mothers, and ensuring universal elementary education, especially for girls.
Homepage for UNFPA
United Nations Children's Fund
The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, was established in December 1946 in order to provide aid for children adversely affected by the Second World War. Since then, UNICEF has worked mainly in developing nations, supporting children and mothers in about 160 states, in the areas of health, family planning, hygiene, nutrition and education as well as providing emergency aid and lobbying on an international level for refugee asylum and against children in the military. [source: Wikipedia 09 Aug 2004]
Homepage for UNICEF
United Nations
The United Nations (UN), founded in 1945 as a successor to the League of Nations, is an international organization composed of representatives from almost every nation in the world and whose activities are also of universal importance. Whereas the UN Security Council is ultimately responsible for world peace and therefore the field of security policy, other organizations were set up for many other policy areas, often in which not all UN states are members. These organizations (sometimes given the status “special organization”) and the UN General Assembly (in which all member nations are represented by one vote each) have increasingly devoted their attention to the problems of developing nations including worldwide abatement of hunger, poverty and epidemics. Issues pertaining to individual and collective human rights are also strongly promoted by the General Assembly.
Homepage for UN
