Economy & Trade

Technology for Tracing the Work of Child Labour Could Help End the Practice

By Lyse Comins
Technology used to trace the origin and price of consumer goods to ensure farmers earn fair profits could easily be adapted as a tool to fight child labour Fair Trade living wage and income lead Isa Miralles told delegates at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour.

Oil Business Burns Enough Gas to Power the Whole Sub-Sahara or Two Thirds of Europe

By Baher Kamal
While the attention of mostly Western media and politicians is quasi exclusively hoarded up by the proxy war in Ukraine and its consequences on the energy sector, the world’s big oil business continues to burn Planet Earth with its underreported though highly polluting, wasteful practice of gas flaring.

Political Will and Partnerships Key to Ending Child Labour, says ILO’s Joni Musabayana

By Fawzia Moodley
With a strong commitment from governments, businesses, labour and consumers, the scourge of child labour can be eliminated, says Dr Joni Musabayana, Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Pretoria, South Africa.

Africa Expected to Strongly Support Durban Call to Action on Child Labour

By Lyse Comins
Global goals to eradicate child labour will not be achieved without a breakthrough in Africa, where most of the world’s 160 million children entrapped in child labour work in rural regions, mostly in agriculture with their families.

Call to Invest ‘Serious Resources’ in Education, to Stem Tide of Child Labour

By Cecilia Russell
"Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to eliminate child labour." So said Dennis Sinyolo, Director of Education International's African Regional Office in Accra, Ghana adapting liberation icon and late South African president Nelson Mandela's famous quote about how education can change the world.

From Child Laborer to Activist, Tara Banjara Asks World to Pledge to End the Scourge

By Lyse Comins
Tara Banjara was four and a half years old when her parents put her to work on the roads, cleaning the garbage and rubble out of potholes to prepare for construction in Nemdi village, Rajasthan, India. She worked in the wind, cold, and rain with her mother, day in and day out, year in and year out. She would return home shattered, too exhausted to eat before falling asleep each night.

Child Labour: No Quick End to Children Trapped in Tobacco Production

By Judith Mackay and Leonce Dieudonne Leonce
Despite World Day Against Child Labour launched in 2002 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), little has changed over the past two decades for the millions of children who remain trapped.

When Saviours Are the Problem

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Central bank policies have often worsened economic crises instead of resolving them. By raising interest rates in response to inflation, they often exacerbate, rather than mitigate business cycles and inflation.

It’s Time To Globalise Compassion, Says Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi

By Fawzia Moodley
A mere 53 billion US dollars per annum – equivalent to 10 days of military spending – would ensure all children in all countries benefit from social protection, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi told the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour.

Youths’ Strident Voices Demand an End to Child Labour

By Fawzia Moodley
Children's voices took centre stage at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, which kicked off in Durban, South Africa, on May 15, 2022. Their voices resonated with the saying: "Nothing about us without us."

Alarm Bells for Africa, Child Labour in Agriculture Requires Urgent Action

By Sania Farooqui
The Global Estimate on Child Labour estimates 160 million children are in child labour worldwide – an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years – with millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19.

Massive Deforestation in the Congo Basin Will Lead to Poverty

By Sylvie Djacbou Deugoue
Growing up amid under the leafy canopy of the Congo Basin rainforest, the woodland was more than our home. It was our playground, our medicine cabinet, our teacher, our therapist. And it was a source of livelihood with its rich biodiversity and helped shield us from the effects of climate change.

Call to Freedom for Millions of Children Trapped in Child Labour as Global Conference Comes to Africa

By Joyce Chimbi
Children washing clothes in rivers, begging on the streets, hawking, walking for kilometres in search of water and firewood, their tiny hands competing with older, experienced hands to pick coffee or tea, or as child soldiers are familiar sights in Africa and Asia.

Mining Destroys the Lives of Indigenous People in Venezuela

By Humberto Márquez
The voracious search for gold in southern Venezuela, practiced by thousands of illegal miners under the protection of various armed groups, represents the greatest threat today to the lives of indigenous peoples, their habitat and their cultures, according to their organizations and human rights defenders.

Finance Drives World to Stagflation

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The world is being pressed by financial interests to raise interest rates, ostensibly to check inflation. After the US Federal Reserve started raising interest rates, more central banks have been doing likewise. Considering inflation’s contemporary causes, such ‘follow the leader’ central bank mimicry cannot check it except by slowing economies. Worse, this has meant taking on huge new risks, seriously damaging world economic prospects in the medium and long-term.

Opacity Surrounds Fossil Fuels in Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
In the northern Mexican state of Coahuila the current situation of coal, used mainly to generate electricity, is opaque.

Give Edible Insects a Chance as an Alternative High-Quality Protein Source, say Scientists

By Joyce Chimbi
Growing up in Samoya Village of Bungoma County in the Western part of Kenya, Elvis Wanjala has fond childhood memories of the rainy season, chasing and catching black-bellied winged termites in the rain.

More Students on the Move in an Increasingly Complex World: Podcast

By Marty Logan
This is our third episode on the ongoing movements of people around the world. You can listen to the previous ones, the first about climate migrants and the second on remittances, on any podcast app.

Six Ways Rwanda Is Building Resilient and Sustainable Transport Systems

By Okechukwu Daniel Ogbonnaya and David Toovey
Over the last decade, Rwanda has invested in building efficient and resilient transport systems. Guided by the country’s Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (GGCRS), the Government of Rwanda has carried out numerous initiatives to promote sustainable mobility and the green economy at large.

Sri Lanka: Economic Meltdown Sparks Mass Protests

By Andrew Firmin
Economic crisis has provoked a great wave of protests in Sri Lanka. People are demanding the resignation of the president, blamed for high-handed and unaccountable decision making, exemplified by his introduction of an agricultural fertiliser ban in 2021 that has resulted in a food crisis. People don’t just want the president’s removal: they want a change in the political balance of power so that future presidents are subjected to proper checks and balances. Hope comes from the wide-reaching and diverse protest movement that has put aside past differences to demand change.

Out of Africa: Rich Continent, Poor People

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Capital flight from the global South is immense, with widespread adverse effects. A new book proposes measures to curb, even reverse capital flight from Africa. It also offers pragmatic lessons for many developing countries.
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