Globalisation

The Environment: Latin America’s Battleground for Human Rights

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
2015 was the deadliest year on record for the killings of environmental activists around the world, according to a new Global Witness report.

Civil Society in Latin America Campaigns Against Trans-Pacific Partnership

By Emilio Godoy
Civil society organisations from Chile, Mexico and Peru are pressing their legislatures and those of other countries not to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Xenophobia: ‘Hate Is Mainstreamed, Walls Are Back, Suspicion Kills’

By Baher Kamal
“Hate is becoming mainstreamed. Walls – which tormented previous generations, and have never yielded any sustainable solution to any problem – are returning. Barriers of suspicion are rising, snaking through and between our societies – and they are killers…”

What If Turkey Drops Its “Human Bomb” on Europe?

By Baher Kamal
Will the rapid--though silent escalation of political tensions between the European Union and Turkey, which has been taking a dangerous turn over the last few weeks, push Ankara to drop a “human bomb” on Europe by opening its borders for refugees to enter Greece and other EU countries?

Unfounded Debt Fears Block Economic Recovery

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Debt anxieties are not new, often fanned by political competition. But so is a double dip recession due to premature deficit reduction. For example, to seek re-election, President Roosevelt backed down from his New Deal in 1937, promising that “a balanced budget [was] on the way”. In 1938, he slashed government spending, and unemployment shot up to 19 per cent.

Western Nations, Blaming Cash Crunch, Pull out of UNIDO

By Thalif Deen
The 134-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing countries, has expressed serious concern over the “unprecedented” withdrawal of nine member states from the Vienna-based UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Antibiotic Resistance Requires Global Response Similar to AIDS, Climate Change

By Lyndal Rowlands
Addressing antibiotic resistance will require a global political response similar to the way the world has reacted to climate change or HIV / AIDS, Sweden’s Minister of Public Health Gabriel Wikstrom, told IPS recently.

A Healthy Trading System Requires Progress and Engagement at All Levels

By Roberto Azevêdo
This is a challenging time for global trade. According to the current World Trade Organization (WTO) new trade forecasts, global goods trade is expected to grow by 2.8%, making 2016 the fifth consecutive year of sub 3% growth. The gross domestic product (GDP) is still the most critical variable in the trade expansion equation, and as long as GDP growth remains low, trade numbers are likely to follow a similar trend.

Humanitarian Aid – Business As Unusual?

By Baher Kamal
Big business is most often seen by human rights defenders and civil society organisations as “bad news,” as those huge heartless, soulless corporations whose exclusive goal is to make the biggest profits possible. Too often and in too many cases this is a proven fact.

Polynesian Voyagers Bring Messages of Hope to UN on World Oceans Day

By Lyndal Rowlands
Polynesian voyagers who have sailed the world by canoe using ancient navigation skills will bring pledges they collected along the way to the UN on Wednesday as part of World Oceans Day celebrations.

World Bank Slightly Downgrades Global Economic Prospects for 2016

By Valentina Ieri
Global economic growth prospects for 2016 have been downgraded to 2.4 percent, in contrast to the initial 2.9 percent rate expected in January 2016, according to a World Bank report released here Wednesday.

Is Good Governance Key To Eliminating Poverty?

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury
For over a decade, much of the international development community, led by the OECD and the World Bank, promoted ‘good governance’ as a pre-requisite for economic development and poverty eradication. Good governance became the explanation for the failure of the structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) to deliver economic growth and poverty reduction. The link between good governance and poverty eradication is premised on the presumption that good governance promotes economic growth and development. It was presumed that SAPs were good for growth and the poor.

The Humanitarian Clock Is Ticking, The Powerful Feign Deafness

By Baher Kamal
The humanitarian clock is now ticking away faster than ever, with over 130 million of the world’s most vulnerable people in dire need of assistance. But the most powerful, richest countries—those who have largely contributed to manufacturing it and can therefore stop it, continue to pretend not hearing nor seeing the signals.

OPINION: Central America, Still Caught Up in the Arms Race

By Lina Barrantes Castegnaro
The recent announcement of the Nicaraguan government’s 80-million-dollar purchase of 50 Russian tanks caught the attention of the press in Latin America and caused alarm in the international community.

Humanitarian Summit, The Big Fiasco

By Baher Kamal
The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) held in Istanbul on May 23-24, managed to send a strong wake-up call to the world about the unprecedented human suffering now in course, but failed to achieve the objective of attracting the massive funds needed to alleviate the humanitarian drama, as none of the leaders of the Group 7 of the richest countries nor of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council attended, with the exception of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Humanitarian Summit: Too Big to Fail?

By Baher Kamal
With a line up of heads of state or government telling all what they did to alleviate human suffering and promising to do more, along with leaders of civil society and humanitarian organisations denouncing lack of honest political will to act while governments continue spending trillions of dollars in weapons, the two-day World Humanitarian Summit kicked off today May 23 in Istanbul.

Humanitarian Summit Aims to Mobilise Up to 30 Billion Dollars

By Baher Kamal
The two-day World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), opening today May 23 in Istanbul, aims at mobilising between 20 and 30 billion dollars to face the on-gowing, worst-ever humanitarian crises, said Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs andEmergency Relief Coordinator.

Africa: Resolved to Address African Problems Using African Solutions

By Baher Kamal
The African Union (AU) representing 54 countries and home to 1,2 billion inhabitants, will be in Istanbul to participate in the May 23-24, 2016, first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) with two key demands—that the international humanitarian system be redefined, and a strong, firm own commitment to itself, to the continent and its people, anchoring on the primacy of the states.

When Emergencies Last for Decades

By Lyndal Rowlands
For the millions of people whose lives have been uprooted by conflict and natural disasters the average amount of time before they can return home is now 17 years.

Indigenous Peoples Inclusion at United Nations Incomplete

By Aruna Dutt
The United Nations Indigenous Forum is one of the UN's most culturally diverse bodies yet its inclusion within the overall UN system remains limited.

Refugees Bring Economic Benefits to Cities

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Refugees are now more likely to live in cities than in refugee camps, bringing with them planning challenges but also opportunities for economic growth.
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