HEALTH: Plan Tailored for Both Rich and Poor Countries

A major increase in investment in health in poor countries, funded by developing nations themselves as well as donor countries, would save millions of lives while giving a strong boost to the development of less-advanced areas.

ENVIRONMENT: Global Temperature Approaches Record High

The global temperature rose again this year, the second warmest year on record, and will continue to climb, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

REFUGEES: Millions Rely on the Generosity of Poor Countries

The difficulties faced by the more than 22 million refugees and asylum seekers dispersed around the globe have long reflected the inequalities between the countries of the industrialised North and the developing South, but this imbalance stands out even more clearly following the Sep 11 attacks in the United States.

RIGHTS: Zero Tolerance for Sexual Exploitation of Children – UNICEF

The international community possesses the legal instruments necessary to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation, but the application of these laws is being delayed, say inter-governmental institutions and civil society groups as they prepare for a global conference on the matter next week.

HEALTH: Indicators Tumble in Ex-Communist Nations

A United Nations agency warned of the grave crisis facing health services in the countries of eastern and central Europe, and the members of the Community of Independent States (CIS).

RIGHTS: Nothing to Celebrate on Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day will be commemorated this Monday against a "worrying and bleak" backdrop that was aggravated by the Sep 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, said Mary Robinson, the United Nations' top human rights official.

DEVELOPMENT: Former Communist Nations No Paradise for Children

The former communist countries of Europe and Central Asia, in the rush for economic growth, have neglected their goals to improve the standard of living for all and to build humane and democratic societies, says a new report by the United Nations Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

HEALTH: HIV/AIDS Pandemic Continues to Target the Poorest

HIV/AIDS is the most devastating disease humanity has ever faced and has become an measure of the existing social and economic injustices, driving a ruthless cycle of impoverishment, said United Nations experts as they presented "AIDS Epidemic Update 2001" in several capitals around the world Wednesday.

DISARMAMENT: U.S. Isolated in Biological Weapons Debate

The United States strategy of adopting bilateral accords to confront the threat of biological weapons attacks is alienating Washington from the many countries that would prefer a multilateral approach.

TRADE: Agriculture to Feel Impact of WTO’s Doha Declaration

The new guidelines established at the Ministerial Conference in Qatar this week for negotiating the liberalisation of agricultural commerce will shape the debate at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting to be held here the first week of December.

TRADE: New WTO Round Favours Industrialised Countries

The Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Wednesday approved the launch of a new round of global trade-liberalising talks, which are slated to begin in January and will cover nearly all the issues that the world's wealthy nations wanted to see included.

TRADE: Europeans Move on Labour Question at WTO Conference

The European Union (EU) has thrown its support behind a proposal on the social dimension of the globalisation process adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a move seen as a bid to improve relations with the region's unions.

TRADE: WTO Suffers Snags in Bid for New Round of Talks

A new draft of the final declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) still fails to placate developing countries, jeopardising the meeting's chances of launching a new round of multilateral trade negotiations.

TRADE: Modest Progress on Drugs amid Stagnant WTO Debates

Negotiations at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) saw some progress Monday on a deal to ensure that developing countries have low-cost access to pharmaceuticals, but remain bogged down on most other questions with only one day of sessions left.

TRADE: China’s Accession Revives WTO Conference

The incorporation of China to the ranks of the more than 140 nations that make up the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has brought a sense of relief to the Ministerial Conference under way in the Qatar capital, the success of which is considered crucial for the international entity's future.

TRADE: Globalisation under Scrutiny at WTO Meet

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) inaugurated its Fourth Ministerial Conference Friday under heavy pressure from developing countries and international civil society, which are clamouring for a more equitable course in the globalisation process.

TRADE: US May Agree to Defer New WTO Round – Cairns Group

The United States wants the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which opened Friday in the Qatar capital, to accelerate talks on agriculture so that the next meeting of trade ministers, in 2003, can launch the much-touted new round of multilateral negotiations.

TRADE: It’s North vs South in Doha

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference will open the final stage of negotiations aimed at deepening trade liberalisation and eliminating inequalities from the multilateral trade regime in a tense climate Friday in Qatar.

TRADE: Medicine Debate Gives Bitter Taste to WTO Conference

Intellectual property rules that obsruct poor countries' access to medicine will be a crucial issue at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to begin Friday in the Qatar capital. Several countries threaten to boycott future trade talks if the matter is not resolved, say activists.

TRADE: WTO Meet Endangered by Own Draft Declaration, Not Bombs

The authorities in Qatar have 12,000 uniformed agents ready to protect the delegations to the fourth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) next week, but they have no way to ensure harmony among the trade ministers representing the 142 member states.

LABOUR: Unions Call on UN to Regulate Globalisation

The United Nations should create an economic and social security council entrusted with protecting social rights, says the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), one of the leading international union organisations.