Indigenous People in Brazil’s Amazon – Crushed by the Belo Monte Dam?

Ethnocide, the new accusation leveled against the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, brings to light deeper underlying aspects of the conflicts and controversies unleashed by megaprojects in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

Opinion: Unrestrained ‘Privatisation of Poverty-Reduction’ Puts Human Rights at Risk

Corporate lobbyists are unusual guests at development meetings, but when the United Nations held its Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa this week to decide who pays for its new “Sustainable Development Goals”, some governments laid out the red carpet for the private sector.

Civil Society Sceptical Over “Action Agenda” to Finance Development

Despite high expectations, the third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) ended on a predictable note: the United Nations proclaimed it a roaring success while most civil society organisations (CSOs) expressed scepticism over the final outcome.

Fear Stalks Students in Northern Pakistan

It has been seven months since a group of gunmen raided the Army Public School in Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, killing 145 people, including 132 students.

Latin America Has Beaten Down, but not Beaten, HIV/AIDS

The countries of Latin America have partially met the Millennium Development Goal referring to the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to the UNAIDS report on the global epidemic released Tuesday.

Children Increasingly Becoming the Spoils of War

Whether in Palestine, Ukraine or Somalia, wars result in millions of children threatened by the brutality of armed conflict.

Female Commandos Ready to Take on the Taliban

For years, Robina Shah has dreamed of joining the police force. Ever since her father, a police constable, was killed in a 2013 Taliban suicide attack in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, she has longed to carry on his legacy.

Opinion: Why Women Peacemakers Marched in Korea

The year 2015 marked the 62^nd anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. The temporary ceasefire has never been replaced with a peace treaty and the demilitarised zone (DMZ) continues to divide the country.

IMF Steps Up Lending to Achieve Sustainable Development

As the Third International Conference on Financing for Development opens in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Monday, all eyes are on the United Nation’s post-2015 development agenda, billed as the most ambitious and far-reaching poverty eradication plan in the organisation’s history.

Jamaica’s Coral Gardens Give New Hope for Dying Reefs

With time running out for Jamaica's coral reefs, local marine scientists are taking things into their own hands, rebuilding the island’s reefs and coastal defences one tiny fragment at a time - a step authorities say is critical to the country’s climate change and disaster mitigation plans.

Global Tax Body Sticking Point at Financing Conference in Addis

When the four-day-long international conference on Financing for Development (FfD) concludes in the Ethiopian capital later this week, one of the lingering questions in the minds of departing delegates may well be: did we really achieve anything concrete after years of negotiations?

Fishing Families Left High and Dry by Amazon Dams

Small-scale fisherpersons were among the first forgotten victims of mega construction projects like the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingú River in the Brazilian Amazon.

Opinion: From New York to Addis Ababa, Financing for Development on Life-Support – Part Two

The key priorities of the Group of 77 developing countries (G77) remain somewhat aligned around a set of issues that have been present from the beginning of the FfD negotiations in New York.

Groups Slam Green Climate Fund Approval of Firms Tied to Dirty Energy

Civil society representatives attending the board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Songdo, South Korea expressed strong disappointment Thursday with the board's decision to accredit Deutsche Bank - one of the world’s largest financiers of coal - to receive and distribute GCF funds.

Opinion: From New York to Addis Ababa, Financing for Development on Life Support – Part One

Lack of ambition and consensus in the New York negotiations begs the question of whether governments in Addis Ababa will salvage or further dilute the outcome of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development from July 13-16.

“Why Hire a Lawyer When You Can Buy a Judge?”

A woman is stopped at a checkpoint; she gives birth, and dies. Another is sold in a slave market. A boy is killed by a tank. A young man drowns at sea, trying to reach a haven safe from oppression and poverty.

Civil Society has Vital Role to Play in Post-2015 Development Agenda

“The action of the private sector can make or break the post-2015 development agenda,” Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said in his opening remarks at a side event hosted in the context of a high-level political forum at the U.N. on Tuesday.

Will the New BRICS Bank Break with Traditional Development Models, or Replicate Them?

Just days ahead of a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in which the five countries are expected to formally launch their New Development Bank (NDB), 40 NGOs and civil society groups have penned an open letter to their respective governments urging transparency and accountability in the proposed banking process.

Opinion: SDGs, FfD and Every Single Dollar in the World

Ethiopia will host an important meeting on Financing for Development (FfD) Conference next week. One of the most-asked questions is:  How much will it cost us to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Opinion: The End of the Greek Tragedy?

The decisive result of the Greek referendum held Jul. 5, in which voters overwhelmingly rejected (61.3 to 38.7 percent) the terms of an international bailout, has opened a new chapter not only for the future of Greece, but also in terms of the essence of the European Union itself.

Despite Scepticism, U.N. Hails Its Anti-Poverty Programme

The United Nations, which launched one of its most ambitious anti-poverty development programmes back in 2000, has hailed it as a riveting success story – despite shortcomings.