The OECD and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) have signed a Memorandum of Co-operation, agreeing to work together to improve tax systems in Africa.

At the Global Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, delegates from 81 jurisdictions and 11 international organisations evaluated whether all Forum members are exchanging tax information effectively.

The OECD, WTO and UNCTAD have called on G20 governments to step up efforts to resist protectionism in the face of continuing high unemployment and a weak economic recovery.

Governments and the chemical industry spend millions of dollars every year testing the safety of chemicals that people use in their everyday lives. Computer modelling, through the OECD-designed QSAR Toolbox software, now replaces many of the tests traditionally done in the laboratory. This allows regulators and industry to save money and use fewer animals to predict the hazardous properties of chemicals.

Finland is making efforts to improve its development co-operation, sharpening the focus of its efforts and emphasising the importance of human rights.

G20 Finance Ministers have welcomed a new OECD/G20 framework designed to help governments develop financial strategies for disaster risk management.

The balance of economic power is expected to shift dramatically over the next half century, with fast-growing emerging-market economies accounting for an ever-increasing share of global output, according to a new OECD report.

New OECD data show that men are more likely to be admitted to hospital as a result of poor management of diabetes than women, even when there are no significant differences in the number of men and women living with diabetes.

Tax revenues in Latin American countries are lower as a proportion of their national incomes than in most OECD countries, but are rising slowly. Revenue Statistics in Latin America shows that the average tax revenue to GDP ratio in the 15 Latin American countries covered by the report increased from 19% in 2009 to 19.4% in 2010, after falling from a high point of 19.7% in 2008.

The financial and economic crises demonstrate that most governments need to change the way they run their countries. Though some have a better track record of reform than others, all can do more to create inclusive, open and responsible governance that can reduce inequality and promote economic growth.