Q&A: “Democracy Deficit Is the Biggest Obstacle to Development”

Three scenarios were laid before the delegates here attending the CIVICUS World Assembly, a venue that attracts civil society, donors, government and business leaders from every region of the world.

Q&A: “Women Are the First to Cook and the Last to Eat”

Three hundred women from more than 30 countries converged in Canada last weekend for the Montreal International Women's Conference 2010 (MIWC), with the aim of building a global militant women's movement in the 21st century.

U.N. Targets “Lost Generation”

Even as the U.N. launched the International Year of Youth last week, one of its agencies was warning of a "lost generation" of disillusioned young workers who are unable to find decent jobs.

ARGENTINA: Limits to Economic Growth Loom

The Argentine economy is making a rapid recovery after the impact of the global financial crisis last year, but experts warn about the limits to growth, which will reach a ceiling shortly unless investments increase.

ECONOMY: Rich Countries’ Farm Subsidies Benefiting Royals

Subsidies for agriculture in the industrialised countries of the world grew again in 2009, benefiting the largest companies and land owners, such as Prince Albert of Monaco and Queen Elizabeth of Britain.

HUNGARY: Austerity Fatigue sends IMF Home

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has slapped IMF in the face, shocking an international community used to news of economic difficulties coming from this small Central European nation. But most Hungarians have welcomed it, at least so far.

GREECE: Society Begins to Crack Under Harsh Measures

Every working day, more than a hundred people crowd around the entrance of the merchant and passenger boats' reconstruction industry, well known as 'The Zone', in the southern suburb of Attiki.

Brazilian Immigrants Weather Crisis in Spain

Unlike so many immigrants who have come to Spain in search of jobs and a better standard of living, 39-year-old Flávio José Carvalho da Silva moved to this northeastern Spanish city from his home country of Brazil because he fell in love with a local woman.

Chinese Show Europeans a New Face

German Chancellor Angel Merkel's weekend visit to China has put a positive spin on the increasingly complex economic relations between China and the European Union, but the flurry of deals signed has not disguised the fact that Beijing faces challenges over its EU policies both at home and abroad.

No Sign of Financial Regulation

More than three years after the start of the financial crisis that brought the world economy to the brink of collapse, the governments of industrialised countries are still struggling to reach a consensus on the minimum regulation required for the operations of international banks and hedge funds.

AFRICA: Widening Tax Bases “Key to Development and Democracy”

African countries should deepen their tax bases to collect more revenues to finance their development, build state institutions and to improve national dialogue and, more generally, their social contracts with citizens.

BALKANS: Economic Crisis Takes Harsh Toll

It's been quite a while since Mevliha Cebo enjoyed the job she was educated for: a pre-school teacher in her native Sarajevo.

Wealthy Reap Rewards While Those Who Work Lose

Times are tough for workers in the U.S. where a recession has a stranglehold on much of the economy, but life is perfectly rosy for those at the top.

‘Save Us From These Bankers, Fast’

Besieged by bankers opposed to regulation of their sector, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have taken an unusual step. A cross-party alliance has called for an international campaigning organisation to concentrate on remedying the flaws of the financial services industry with the same tenacity that Amnesty International focuses on victims of torture and Greenpeace on toxic chemicals and whales.

Latin America Keeps Poverty Goals in Sight Despite Harsh Times

Nine million more people have fallen into poverty in Latin American and Caribbean countries since the global financial crisis struck, threatening the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline, according to a report released Thursday by 18 U.N. agencies.

Jobs Pact Spotlights Women’s Role in Economic Recovery

One year after the creation of the Global Jobs Pact, members of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are considering the measure's impact - and what comes next.

European Crisis Is Chinese Opportunity

When China designed the 2010 Universal Expo in Shanghai as a showcase for its new public diplomacy, it probably did not envision the exhibition will play a much bigger role as a magnet for recession-hit European businesses.

Caribbean Summit Seeks United Front to Economic Crisis

Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders are gathering here next week for their annual summit still struggling to recover from the two-year global economic and financial crisis that has taken a major toll on their individual economies.

G20: China May Not Play Saviour

Against a backdrop of rising expectations that it holds the key to global economic recovery, China has sent a subtle signal that its economic health is frail and that external pressure to revalue its currency will cause more damage than good.

Time to Give Wall Street the Axe, Say Progressive Groups

As heads of state from the Group of 20 (G20) most developed and economically powerful emerging nations meet in Toronto, Canada this weekend, some activists at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit are urging a more realistic look at the roots of the global economic crisis - and an end to the free-wheeling capitalist model embodied by Wall Street.

Six Million U.S. Homeowners Looking into the Abyss

A crisis of foreclosures is twisting through neighbourhood after neighbourhood here, separating thousands of U.S. families from their homes each day and further unraveling the social fabric of low-income communities.