Q&A: Cooperatives a “Compelling Model of Economic Enterprise”

With 800 million members in over 100 countries, the cooperative sector is a globally important group of collective organisations. On Oct. 31, the United Nations (U.N.) will begin a year of recognising their importance by launching the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) in New York.

U.S.: As It Renews, Oakland Occupation Honours Injured Protester

Several dozen tents popped back up Thursday afternoon at Oakland's Oscar Grant Plaza as people played music and shared hugs. But as darkness fell, a sombre mood overtook the nearby corner of 14th Street and Broadway, where friends and supporters of Scott Olsen lit candles and spoke quietly.

U.S.: Who is the 99 Percent? – Part 1

Barely a month after the first group of protesters set up its encampment in Zuccotti Park in New York City, the phrase "We are the 99 percent" has already become legendary.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/HAITI: Nascent Union Charges Reprisals by Textile Factory Owners

Workers in Haiti's apparel manufacturing sector charge that factory owners are repressing attempts to organise workers in the capital, after the dismissals of six of seven leading members of a new union within just two weeks of its formation.

In Latin America, Closing the Gender Gap Brings Fresh Challenges

Over the past four decades in Latin America and the Caribbean, women have made remarkable strides in education, health, labour, and beyond, with girls now outperforming boys in school, the rate of working women more than doubling in many countries, and female participation rising in politics.

U.S.: New Inequality Data Likely to Boost “Occupy” Movement

A major study on income equality by a non-partisan government agency is likely to boost the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, whose standing with the general public appears on the rise, according to a new poll.

U.S.: Police Tear Down Occupy Oakland; Protesters Say It’s Not Over

As the sun came up over Oakland City Hall Wednesday, Mike Porter, 24, was standing behind police barricades, watching a public works crew power wash the plaza that had been home to some 200 participants in the Occupy Oakland movement.

GUATEMALA: Costly Botched Port Ruins Beach Town Economy

"Now it's really dangerous to go out to sea, because of the huge waves. The few who brave it do so to survive," said fisherman Venancio Morales, one of the residents of the Guatemalan beach town of Champerico who have been affected by the construction of an unfinished new port.

Cooperatives Face Hard Times Without New Support

Many workers' cooperatives are struggling to stay afloat and need increased public support, said experts gathered at the 2011 International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy in Montreal.

Greek Strike Resumes Ahead of Austerity Vote

Thousands of Greeks, furious at the government's austerity measures, gathered outside parliament in the capital Athens, as the second day of a general strike and mass protests began.

PORTUGAL: Crisis Pushes Women into Prostitution

The severe financial and economic problems in Portugal are driving many women to desperation and pushing them into prostitution as a last resort to support their families.

UZBEKISTAN: Forced Child Labour Kills

A 13-year-old boy has become the latest victim of state-sponsored forced child labour in Uzbekistan as its regime continues to ignore boycotts and international condemnation of its practices during the country’s annual cotton harvest.

Occupy Movement Heats Up U.S. South

As the Occupy Movement spreads like wildfire across the United States and around the world, protests in the U.S. South are facing unique challenges.

EL SALVADOR: The Uphill Fight for a Disability Pension

Eric Saúl Majano stares blankly up at the ceiling in the government office in the Salvadoran capital that he is visiting to seek a disability pension, since he has been unable to work since 2002 due to schizophrenia. But achieving his goal will not be easy.

BANGLADESH: Reducing Poverty Hinges on Microcredit – Yunus

Reducing poverty in Bangladesh will depend critically on sustaining the successes of the country’s microcredit (MC) programmes, says Muhammad Yunus, the economist who shared the 2006 Nobel peace prize with his creation, Grameen Bank.

World Bank Reveals Crippling Donor Dependency in West Bank, Gaza

The World Bank drew attention to the ongoing devastation wrought by one of the world's longest standing conflicts with the publication Monday of a report documenting high levels of donor dependency in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

INDIA: Rampant Child Labour Goes Unaddressed In Kashmir

Fourteen-year-old Shafat Ahmad works as a domestic helper in the house of a Srinagar-based government employee in Kashmir. His younger sister embroiders shawls in an unregistered textile venture in her native village of Beeru.

CUBA: More and More Women in the Fields

When Sara Gutiérrez began working her land, she knew a lot about hairdressing, her first profession, but nothing about agricultural techniques. "The first crops were really bad, until I learned how to get good yields even in difficult conditions," she said.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Lifer’s Case Tells Migrant Workers’ Plight

A Nepalese worker serving life for a murder he denies committing has become the rallying point for activists lobbying for the rights of migrant labour.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Beating Mega Challenges with Microloans

Pilar Toc, a 45-year-old Quiche Maya woman, used to work endlessly in a factory making traditional clothing in northwest Guatemala. Even so, her situation was so precarious that she could not enrol her son in school. But her life changed when she took out a microloan from a community bank.

MEXICO: Rural Women Organise to Weather Multiple Crises

Adelaida Avelino, 60, is still devastated by the loss of her corn and wheat harvest, which were destroyed by the freeze that hit the Mexican state of Tlaxcala a month ago. But at least her medicinal plants survived.