O19 - International Linkages to Development; Role of International OrganizationsReturn

This paper deals with the issue of drug trafficking in Tajikistan, which is a serious socioeconomic obstacle to the country's economic growth. The author analyses the development and the reasons for the current situation since Tajikistan's independency in 1991, arguing that the unsatisfactory economic situation of the Tajik people has been caused mainly by the civil war in the 1990s and the malfunctioning institutional system. The result of the successive examination of the instruments and procedures that are applied in solving the problem of drug trafficking is used to identify possible improvements to the drug policy in Tajikistan as well as by international actors. Individual measures must be considered globally and in a long-term perspective.

The aim of this paper is to describe the current situation of the least developed countries (LDCs). After briefly explaining their historical development, this paper presents the current definition criteria for LDCs as well as their up-to-date list. The position of the LDCs within the international community is briefly explained on the example of changing strategies of international development partners towards achieving progress in the LDCs. Finally, the progress of the LDCs towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is assessed. The assessment shows that if the current development is not accelerated, the majority of the MDGs will not be met by 2015 as planned. In the recent past it was thought that the right way to speed up the economic and social developments in the LDCs is their growing engagement in international trade. This paper shows empirical evidence of the impacts international trade has had on the LDCs' economies in the recent past. It proves again that the solution for the LDCs does not lie in any single measure. To significantly decrease the proportion of the population living in poverty in any country, the country must be able to provide its people with a sufficient number of paid employment opportunities.

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Strategy in 2001 represented a new attempt to address the challenges that the EU was facing. The deterioration of the environment, the climate change as well as structural changes of world economy represent the new framework that ought to be carried on by the multilateral environmental governance structures. One of the important parts of that system is the WTO and its Doha Development Agenda. This paper outlines the consequences of the Sustainable Development Policy for the multilateral governace. It is based on the characteristic of the EU's sustainable development policy and the contribution of the WTO and related Multilateral Environmental Agreements to the solution of the global environmental problems.