United Nations

I'm trying to write reviews for all the books I read. For this one I need to make the confession up-front. I wrote the book. Hence the review can hardly be objective. Nevertheless, with the benefit of hindsight, plus the fact that a new version of the guide has been written (by another author) I think I can make some considered observations about it. This was the third version of this guide produced by the International Trade Centre and although I had these earlier versions to use as basic research material, I really found them inadequate and in every case, I really had to begin the writing from "scratch". There were also some constraints imposed by the ITC on me...specifically by the project manager, Bertrand Monrozier. Bertrand had fairly firm views on what he wanted included and, to my mind anyway, a rather overly positive view of the over-riding importance of networking. So networking is, perhaps over-emphasised in the book. Though I acknowledge Bertrand's friendly and capable guiding hand...especially in negotiating the politics of the ITC.
One thing that I would like to have seen in the book was an index and I argued loud and long with the editors about this....ultimately, unsuccessfully. And I still feel that it is a deficiency. I've had trouble finding sections myself that I know are in there....simply because there is no index. The editors argued, and perhaps they are right, that with electronic versions and electronic searching n Index is redundant.
But what about the content? Actually, I think the content is pretty good. I put a lot of myself and my own experience as an international trade representative into the book......and I know others have found it of great value. A was always concerned about the contents dating too fast.....especially with the web sites and links listed. In fact, I did suggest that it should be revised every six months as far as these electronic links were concerned ....but the ITC did not have the resources for this.
My original draft was considerably larger and the primary editor cut it back savagely. On the whole, I think she did a great job and i enjoyed working with her.....but the nuances have been lost. Where I might have said something like; "You might like to consider the consequences of participating in a trade display with less than five exhibitors"....the editor was blunt: "Don't exhibit with less than five exhibitors". So their tone of the whole book is much more directive than my original version. Maybe it's better for it. And it is certainly a lot shorter.
I was later approached by a Government Organisation to help them in restructuring their own trade commissioner service because they really liked the tables and forms etc which I'd included in the book. And they still look pretty good to me....even with the march of time and the increasing use of technology. I must say, that one of the best things that I think is in the book are the short lists of 14 things that trade representatives need from their home organisation and 14 things that the home office needs from the trad representatives.)Boxes 1 and 2). I remember showing these lists (which are really self-obvious) to one of the General Managers of my old organisation (Austrade) ...and he exclaimed....."Oh Gee!....we are not doing that"..... for the first item on the list. And, the reality is that most trade organisations are not doing most of these self-obvious things.
Actually, to write this review, I've been forced to take the book out and re-read various sections. I still think it's pretty good and well worth five stars. (others may disagree).… (plus d'informations)

Il 2022 sarà una 'milestone' per la popolazione mondiale, l'anno in cui si raggiungerà il traguardo demografico storico di 8 miliardi di persone sulla Terra. E subito dopo sarà seguito - entro i 12 mesi successivi - da un altro cambiamento simbolico, con l'India che supererà la Cina come Paese più popoloso del mondo.

Sono le previsioni demografiche dell'ultimo rapporto Onu appena diffuso - The World Population Prospects 2022, curato dal dipartimento degli Affari sociali ed economici delle Nazione Unite - che prevede il raggiungimento del numero record di 8 miliardi di persone per il 15 novembre di quest'anno e indica inoltre che nell'arco del 2023 cambierà la posizione di vertice nella classifica degli Stati con la maggiore popolazione del pianeta.

Lo studio spiega che la popolazione globale raggiungerà nei prossimi mesi la quota di 8 miliardi, anche se la crescita annuale è scesa alla percentuale più bassa dal 1950, con un aumento sotto l'1 per cento nel 2020. Il rapporto delle Nazioni Unite inoltre indica come attualmente gli indiani siano 1 miliardo 412 milioni, mentre i cinesi siano 1 miliardo 426 milioni, ed entro il 2023 avverrà il sorpasso. Lo studio prevede che l'India, a metà del secolo, raggiungerà una popolazione di 1 miliardo 668 milioni, mentre la Cina dovrebbe scendere a 1 miliardo 317 milioni intorno al 2050.

Il rapporto è stato presentato oggi dal segretario generale Onu António Guterres in occasione della Giornata mondiale della popolazione. Il raggiungimento degli 8 miliardi di abitanti sulla Terra "è un promemoria della nostra responsabilità condivisa di prenderci cura del nostro pianeta - ha commentato Guterres - e un momento per riflettere su dove ancora non riusciamo a rispettare i nostri impegni reciproci".

L'analisi dell'Onu prosegue con la previsione che, nonostante la popolazione mondiale stia crescendo al ritmo più lento dal 1950, si dovrebbe raggiungere 8,5 miliardi nel 2030 e 9,7 miliardi nel 2050, con un picco di circa 10,4 miliardi di persone negli anni '80 di questo secolo prima di stabilizzarsi a quel livello fino al 2100.

Inoltre si osserva un netto calo dei tassi di natalità in diversi Paesi in via di sviluppo, mentre più della metà dell'aumento previsto della popolazione mondiale nei prossimi decenni sarà concentrato in otto Paesi, afferma il rapporto: la Repubblica Democratica del Congo, l'Egitto, l'Etiopia, l'India, la Nigeria, il Pakistan, le Filippine e la Tanzania.… (plus d'informations)