MEXICO: Fair Trade Will Become Major Trend, Say Growers

Thanks to fair trade, Jorge Cetz - a lemon and mango grower from the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche - has gained access to markets and organised his cooperative better. But in order to enhance results under this form of sustainable production and alternative marketing, more support is needed, he said.

TRADE: NGOs Welcome EU Vow Not to Push Africa into EPAs

Non-governmental organisations have expressed their satisfaction at the European Commission’s declaration that it would not put "undue pressure" on African and other countries to conclude the controversial trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs).

ECONOMY: Recovery Will Be Jobless

The annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ended Wednesday in Istanbul in a climate of cautious hope for the economy and with a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges for the two institutions.

FINANCE: Not Reforms, But Reformed

The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have run into a predictable roadblock in setting out brave new directions: a roadblock called memory. What could have been an immensely sensible idea of turning the IMF into a new central bank for the world is up against years of mistrust the IMF has built for itself.

FINANCE: IMF Loan Policies Worsening Crisis, NGOs Say

While world leaders banter about International Monetary Fund and World Bank business in Istanbul, NGOs critical of the way the Bretton Woods institutions operate are not letting up pressure.

ROMANIA: Government Collapse Deepens Economic Woes

Romania is heading for a week of massive protests by state employees. With the governing coalition collapsing last Friday, the new minority government will have a hard time navigating between the demands of the protesters and the austerity measures demanded by its international creditors.

DEVELOPMENT: Rome, Food Capital of the World – Part 1

It was once true that all roads led to this ancient capital. Today it is the furrows of maize, wheat and rice fields that take you to Rome, where the biggest global food organisations are headquartered, and the World Summit on Food Security (Nov. 16-18) is being organised.

Q&A: “Latin America Faces a Tough Balancing Act”

Chile is leading the way towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while Honduras is seriously lagging behind, says Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

U.S.: Homeless Shelters Fighting Push from Downtowns

The largest homeless shelter in the southeast U.S., the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Atlanta claiming officials have undertaken a complex campaign to sabotage the shelter with the ultimate goal of driving homeless, mostly African American men off the streets of downtown.

FINANCE: World Bank Head Acknowledges Shifting Global Order

The world economic crisis has called attention to shifting international power structures as emerging economies gain more influence and the failure of globalisation to assist the poorest countries becomes clear, said World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick in anticipation of the bank's annual meeting in Istanbul, Turkey next week.

G20: Leaders Agree on Reforms, Poor Still "Out in the Cold"

World leaders at the two-day G20 Summit in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh agreed to work cooperatively to recover from the global economic crisis and create structural reforms with long-term growth as the goal.

G20: Rising Above the G8

Something that was perhaps only half-expected has happened in Pittsburgh: the G20 has moved on from being an event to becoming an institution.

G20: Europeans Resist More Clout for South in IMF

An initiative to reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF) voting structure is causing tension at the G20 here as European delegations resist a U.S.-spearheaded effort to give greater clout to emerging economies, primarily because it would decrease European voting power.

G20: IMF Finds a New Unpopularity

When some Eastern European states faced economic collapse as the financial crisis took hold, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in and offered governments huge loans.

POLITICS: Obama's Deal-Making Skills Tested at U.N., G20

U.S. President Barack Obama will make his way Thursday from the U.N. General Assembly in New York to "Steel City" – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - to host the G20 Summit in what has been billed as a week that will put his ability to lead in the international arena to its fullest test.

G20: An Emerging Development

Almost before anyone knew it, a new language has become current leading up to the two-day G20 meet in Pittsburgh that divides the world in ways that seem suitable at the high table of the day. The new tiers are the developed, the emerging, and of course the poor.

GREECE: New Leaders May Not Bring New Answers

The call for snap elections on Oct 2, about two years earlier than the end of the government's mandate surprised no one in Greece. They were in fact overdue given the political bankruptcy of the government of the right-wing party New Democracy (ND).

ECONOMY: "Put Africa on the G20 Agenda in Pittsburgh"

With South Africa being the only African country with a seat on the Group of 20 (G20), while serving as co-chair of the working group on reforming the International Monetary Fund, it has "a moral obligation towards the continent to call for more responsible management of the global financial system".

LATIN AMERICA: Food Crisis Must Be Regional Priority

There are 52 million hungry people in Latin America and the Caribbean, six million more than in 2008 - an aspect of the global economic crisis that must be a top priority focus of national policies and development aid, according to a meeting of experts from 27 countries held in the Venezuelan capital.

POLITICS-US: Activists, Big Business Converge on G20 Meet

As media and government delegates prepare for the G20 Summit to be held Sep. 24-25 in Pittsburgh, local business and activist groups are promoting clashing visions of days to come.

FINANCE: Aid Losses Prompting “Development Emergency”

A new U.N. report warns that the world is likely to suffer more economic and environmental disasters if the richest countries fail to shoulder their share of development aid to poorer nations.