Two lectures given by Uwazi manager at University of Amsterdam in April 2010. Lectures seek to explain why development aid has so often been ineffective, by exploring the incentives decision makers in developed and developing countries have to make aid work.
17. Daimler Agrees to Settle a U.S. Bribery Case By DAWN KAWAMOT O Posted 10:30 AM 03/24/1 0 Company News, Investing, Auto s D aimler (D AI) has agreed to pay a $185 million settlement in a bribery case, in which the German automaker is accused of funneling tens of millions of dollars to a number of foreign governments in exchange for their business, according to a source familiar with the issue. In a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this week, Daimler faced two counts, one for alleged conspiracy and the other relating to allegations of falsifying books, records and accounts of the publicly traded company. Under the settlement, Daimler will pay $93.6 million to the Justice Department and $91.4 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a source. In a copy of the complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Daimler is alleged to have committed these actions over the course of a decade beginning in 1998: D AIMLER made hundreds of improper payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign officials in at least 22 countries - including China, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Latvia, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and others - to assist in securing contracts with government customers for the purchase of DAIMLER vehicles valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. In some cases, DAIMLER wired these improper payments to U.S. bank accounts or to the foreign bank accounts of U.S. shell companies in order to transmit the bribe. In at least one instance, a U.S. shell company was incorporated for the specific purpose of entering into a sham consulting agreement with DAIMLER in order to conceal improper payments routed through the shell company to foreign government officials. Certain improper payments even continued as late as January 2008. In all cases, DAIMLER improperly recorded these payments in its corporate books and records. The lawsuit further alleges that Daimler reaped $50 million in pre-tax profits from corrupt transactions with a territorial connection to the U.S. i
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23. Homework The Paris Declaration , endorsed on 2 March 2005, is an international agreement to which over one hundred Ministers, Heads of Agencies and other Senior Officials adhered and committed their countries and organisations to continue to increase efforts in harmonisation, alignment and managing aid for results with a set of monitorable actions and indicators. Joint progress toward enhanced Aid Effectiveness Ownership - Developing countries set their own strategies for poverty reduction, improve their institutions and tackle corruption. Alignment - Donor countries align behind these objectives and use local systems . Harmonisation - Donor countries coordinate, simplify procedures and share information to avoid duplication. Results - Developing countries and donors shift focus to development results and results get measured. Mutual Accountability - Donors and partners are accountable for development results. What considerations may have convinced donors to embrace the Paris agenda instead of increasing W/S?