Migrant Women Trapped in Sex Trade

When French police broke up a Nigerian human trafficking ring that allegedly forced young migrant women into prostitution, the arrests cast a sharp light on the plight of what the authorities called “modern-day slaves”, here and throughout Europe.

Amidst Controversy, World Bank to Review Influential Rankings

The World Bank released its 10th annual Doing Business report on Monday, using the occasion to track business- and investment-friendly reforms put in place around the world over the past decade.

Amid Food Crisis, Caribbean Agriculture Going to Seed

With the average age of a farmer in the Caribbean now 62 years old, there is growing concern that commercial agriculture is on a path to extinction – a dire scenario for a region already shouldering a massive food import bill.

Cooperatives Help Women Farmers Tighten Ranks

It is a tried and tested truth that when women come together in groups they can address their issues more powerfully than they can as individuals.

Three Years of Peace But No Sign of Prosperity

Mamaduwa, a remote village in Sri Lanka’s northern Vavuniya district where scorching winds blow across parched earth, is trying to forget the past.

Poverty Sparks New Unrest in Egypt

Ahmed Hassanein works in a modern factory in an industrial enclave west of Cairo. He wears a neatly pressed uniform and operates precision calibrated machinery on a line that produces components for foreign-brand passenger vehicles.

OP-ED: What We Owe Our Youth

On Wednesday, we kick off a three-day meeting in Mexico City to discuss how to boost the involvement of young people in politics and expand their role in consolidating democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Communal Land Titling at a Standstill in Peru

The titling of the lands of indigenous and peasant communities has been at a practical standstill for two years, with many of the corresponding files lost or incomplete. But the promotion of foreign investment is moving full steam ahead in the same regions.

South African Truckers Lose Despite Wage Agreement

The signing of a wage agreement between transport workers’ unions and employers on Friday, Oct. 12 may have brought a three-week long truck driver’s strike to an end but analysts say the effects are far reaching and will continue to impact on the South African economy.

Women Are the New ‘Emerging Market’

Empowering women in the business world is not only a smart political decision, but also makes good economic sense.

Experts Urge Focus on Microeconomics in Maghreb

A failure to focus on small-scale economics could be the most significant obstacle to stability in North Africa in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, economists, diplomats and development workers warned here on Friday.

Cooperatives Summit Celebrates Power in Diversity

The migratory seeds of cooperatives were sown and first thrived in Europe, but have since adapted to the climate of nations worldwide.

India Ignoring Coastal Biodiversity – NGOs

Indian civil society organisations see in the 11th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), underway in this south Indian city, a rare opportunity to highlight alleged neglect of biodiversity along the country’s extensive coastal and marine areas.

Groups Rewarded in Their Fight for Fair Food

The Korean Women's Peasant Association won the 2012 Food Sovereignty Prize for its efforts on behalf of the survival of small-scale and ecologically sustainable farming in South Korea.

Co-operatives Hold Their Own in Free Market Jungle

Cooperatives may face an immense challenge in garnering broader public recognition among consumers, but when it comes to chasing growth, they haven’t held back.

Market Gardening, a Ladder to Progress for Bolivians in Argentina

At the age of 53, Alberto Ramírez has come a long way since he came from Bolivia to Argentina every year during the harvest season since he was 12 years old, to work alongside his father. He now has a prosperous vegetable and fruit wholesale business in this city on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Q&A: Global Economy, Meet One Billion Co-op Members

The international rally to take the global cooperative movement to the next level is in full swing at the International Summit of Cooperatives here, which kicked off on Monday.

Guatemalans Turn to Mutual Aid to Overcome Poverty

"Our economic situation improved a great deal because we obtained more income for our families" as a result of setting up a social enterprise, Matilde García, who makes fashion jewellery in the municipality of Pastores, 60 km west of the capital of Guatemala, told IPS.

Co-ops Offer Ray of Hope for Youth Facing Bleak Job Market

Youth worldwide are facing limited job prospects in the traditional channels of employment, and in the midst of the job crunch, cooperatives are seeking ways to connect with this untapped pool of talent.

A Migration Story Comes Full Circle

For the first time in over four decades, the number of people migrating out of the southern Indian state of Kerala, home to 33.3 million people, is on the decline.

Small Farmers in West Africa Need Support – Despite Good Rains

Despite an abundance of rain, promising good harvests for the current growing season, small-scale farmers and non-governmental organisations are calling for support to smallholders to be maintained with a view to eradicating food insecurity in Africa’s Sahel region.