Globalisation

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: The Spirit of Bandung Alive and Well in Bamako

By IPS Correspondents
As the sixth World Social Forum (WSF) got underway in the Malian capital of Bamako, Thursday, memories of another landmark meeting were in the air – namely the Bandung Conference, held in the Indonesian city of the same name in 1955.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Cynicism and Hope Ahead of the Bamako Gathering

By Almahady Cissé
With just a day to go before Africa's first-ever World Social Forum (WSF) gets underway in Mali, attitudes towards the meeting appear somewhat mixed in the West African country.

ECONOMY: China’s Growth Bypassing Workers

By IPS Correspondents
China's government kept a low profile at last week's WTO meetings although they were held in its own backyard, the "special administrative region" of Hong Kong. Its negotiators held no media briefings during or after negotiations and of the 1,100 NGOs and business groups accredited for the event, only five were from China.

UAE: Arab Media Asks Tough Questions – of Itself

By IPS Correspondents
Arabs are no longer blaming external forces for giving the region and its media a bad name. As debates at the 'Arab and World Media Conference' revealed, they are also attempting to identify the deficiencies in their own systems and demanding remedies to overcome them.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Another Year, Another Food Crisis

By Moyiga Nduru
For several years now, Southern Africa has faced acute food shortages that look set to continue in 2006. According to the United Nations, several countries in the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) will still be relying on food handouts next year to prevent millions of their citizens from starving to death.

WTO-SPECIAL: Does Foreign Equal Cheaper, Better, More?

By IPS Correspondents
"Look at how we live here: the garbage heaps, the sewers, the polythene bags with human waste littered all over the area! There is no adequate running water. This is harmful for our children and us," complains James Isaye, a resident of Kibera.

WTO-SPECIAL: Globalisation Works, Unequally

By IPS Correspondents
Driving past the architectural creations in chrome and glass that make up this city, it is easy to believe that globalisation has arrived at this corner in the state of Haryana where, barely a decade ago, farmers tilled and buffaloes grazed.

WTO-SPECIAL: Disillusion in Southern Africa Ahead of Trade Summit

By Moyiga Nduru
Campaigners from Southern Africa are bracing for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks to be held in Hong Kong later this month. Some plan to send representatives to the meeting, to protest against unfair trade legislation – particularly as this relates to agriculture.

ECONOMY: South African Mining Giants Seek Their Fortune Abroad

By IPS Correspondents
A number of South African mining companies, long a pillar of the country's economy, are now primed for take-off to countries with lower mining standards and labour regulations, says Ponti Zimisele, a South African trade unionist and labour researcher.

HEALTH-DRC: An Epidemic Waiting to Happen

By IPS Correspondents
A vast forested valley stretches out below the office of Jose Mpindi, an ornithologist at the University of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

GLOBALISATION: Amid Budget Spat, EU Searches for the Big Picture

By IPS Correspondents
European Union leaders are meeting this week to debate the bloc's future place in an increasingly competitive world, while trying to avoid awkward topics that threaten its cohesion.

TECHNOLOGY: Welcome to Ruralkenya.com

By IPS Correspondents
A generator rumbles behind the two-roomed building, which looks like one of the maize mills that dot Kenya's rural landscape. But, you're not likely to find a harvest of any sort in here - rather, food for thought.

ECONOMY-KENYA: Informal Sector Perilous for Many

By IPS Correspondents
Faced with the prospect of losing her secretarial post to cutbacks in Kenya's public sector a decade ago, Margaret Nabwire opted for early retirement, and the severance package that came with it.

CULTURE: Malawians Pursue the “Bootylicious”

By Pilirani Semu-Banda
On a cool evening, a young woman who identifies herself as Yasmin swings her hips as she walks confidently from her living quarters at the University of Malawi campus, towards a hall where a disco is being held.

CULTURE: UNESCO Adopts Convention to Protect Diversity

By Julio Godoy
The United Nations cultural body adopted an international treaty Thursday to protect cultural diversity, marking what experts say is a first but important moral victory in the long-running fight to preserve the world's cultural richness.

HEALTH-EUROPE: As Bird Flu Lands, Alarm Takes Off

By Julio Godoy
Alarm and a run on anti-flu medications are taking off across Europe after the first cases of avian influenza in poultry and other birds were confirmed in Romania, Greece, Turkey, and suspected in the Balkan countries.

POPULATION-SOUTH AFRICA: Inter-Country Adoption a Last Resort, or Best Hope?

By IPS Correspondents
It seems an obvious response to a pressing problem. If there are thousands of orphaned children in South Africa who cannot find a home in their extended families, then why not place more emphasis on adoption? And if adoptive families cannot be found locally, why not look abroad?

CULTURE: Hotugandans.com + Red Pepper = Controversy

By Evelyn Kiapi
The spread of the internet has opened Uganda to a vast array of trends and influences that would have had little effect in previous years. However, a good many citizens who have peered into this brave new world are not sure they like what they see - especially the two pornography sites featuring Ugandans that took the country by surprise recently.

KENYA: “In a Situation Like This, Who Cares About Human Rights?”

By IPS Correspondents
Behind a dilapidated store in a dusty field at Athi River, an export processing zone (EPZ) on the outskirts of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, a group of textile factory workers has gathered for a mid-afternoon break. The heat is searing, and the hastily purchased cool drinks quench thirsts.

ECONOMY: Mauritius Battles to Keep Sugar Industry From Turning Sour

By IPS Correspondents
Sugar has long been the sweetener in Mauritius' global trade. But now the island faces an unpalatable fight to keep the industry going in light of a recent European Union (EU) proposal to cut sugar prices to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

ECONOMY: Africa Given a Small Slice of the Investment Pie

By Moyiga Nduru
Africa must redouble its efforts if it wants to attract more investment, an official from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said Thursday at the launch of the agency's annual 'World Investment Report'.
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