Just yesterday, I read a repost of a blog, twice removed, about a generic template for any column discussing an international meeting or convention (foreign correspondents take note -ed).
Here is how it starts:
An ineffectual international organisation yesterday issued a stark warning about a situation it has absolutely no power to change, the latest in a series of self-serving interventions by toothless intergovernmental bodies. “We are seriously concerned about this most serious outbreak of seriousness,” said the head of the institution…
It’s actually quite a funny read, but it is less amusing when one encounters precisely this object of parody in real life. As for example, the latest OECD meeting (seventh at this point) aimed at bolstering anticorruption initiatives:
Senior government officials, non-governmental and business groups from almost 30 countries [met] 25-27 June 2008 in Tbilisi, Georgia, at the 7th General Meeting of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) to step up their fight against corruption.
Numerous anti-corruption efforts have been made in Eastern Europe and Central Asia over the past few years, but progress has been limited. While the new EU member states have made some progress, most countries still have a long way to go to ensure sustainability of their anti-corruption work and to implement international standards. The level of corruption in the former Soviet states remains high, and in some countries has even worsened.
The second paragraph could be recycled year in and year out. In fact, it would be an interesting analysis of the media, if one were to analyze the coverage of the same event annually; there should be at least 7 such “news reports” by now in the case of the OECD’s meeting.
Anyone needs a research topic?
What should be added to the research is a calculation how much money these meetings cost (travelling, accommodation, working hours of high officials, printing…) compared to the sums spent for on-the-ground anti-corruption projects.