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Thursday, May 7, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Credible Future - Can Micro Loans Make a Macro Difference?
DEVELOPMENT: This Land Is Not Her Land
In Western and Central Africa, a lack of land rights is plunging rural women into an endless cycle of poverty that, without fundamental and immediate reform, will continue unabated, warned participants at a major United Nations women's conference Wednesday.DEVELOPMENT: A Little Goes a Long Way
Sandra is a 26-year-old mother of two who lives in a small town in Nicaragua close to the Honduran border. Taken as the wife of a day labourer at the age of 14, she never attended school or learned to read or write.DEVELOPMENT: Belgium Urges Rich To Meet Aid Pledges
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has urged industrialised countries to allocate promised money for international development cooperation.RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Army Intervenes in ‘War’ Over Land
The 2,000 army troops that Brazil began to deploy Wednesday to the northern state of Pará will not be sufficient to control the tension in the Amazon jungle municipalities where four people have been killed in disputes over land in the past four days.DEVELOPMENT: ‘Make Rural Poverty History’
'Make rural poverty history' is the centrepiece of a global gathering this week in Rome. The meeting will be joined by government ministers of finance, agriculture and rural development from 163 member states of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).RIGHTS-BRAZIL: State of Para Produces Another ‘Martyr of the Land’
The murder of U.S.-born Catholic nun and activist Dorothy Stang, which has had international repercussions, highlights the need for a government policy that would effectively reduce the violence surrounding conflicts over land, especially in the northern state of Pará.ARGENTINA: Building a Solidarity Economy
A solidarity economy is being built by thousands of workers in Argentina, in rural cooperatives, worker-run factories and small businesses linked by networks.WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Delhi Youngsters Bank Way Out of Trouble
Raju Kumar sits quietly in the corner of a cheerful bright room, across a child-friendly bank counter, updating accounts and ledger books. A bank manager since 15, he delicately balances his work with his studies.DEVELOPMENT: Microcredit a ‘Practical’ Way to Fight Poverty
Of the wide range of strategies identified for combating world poverty, the promotion of microcredits - and other forms of financing for people with limited resources in developing countries - has proven to be a highly effective tool, say experts from international agencies.TSUNAMI IMPACT: Ranks of the New Poor Swell
Philip De Vota has joined the ranks of Sri Lanka's poor for the first time in his 54 years. This reality since the day after Christmas last month gnaws at him, leaving him ''depressed''.BRAZIL: Lula’s Pragmatism Cost Him Allies but Growth Has Kept Him Popular
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's shift towards the centre of the political spectrum over the past two years and his "pragmatism" have cost him allies on the left, although he remains relatively popular thanks largely to the unexpectedly strong economic growth of around five percent for 2004.VENEZUELA: Speeding Up Agrarian Reform
The Venezuelan government plans to accelerate its land reform efforts this year, by first carrying out an exhaustive nationwide inventory of rural property, land ownership, land use and productivity levels.COMMUNICATIONS: Media under Fire at ‘Peace in Peacetime’ Meet
Local press covering the island's first-ever International Conference on Peace and Development, in an unusual twist, became themselves the news story when conference organisers laced into what they called "hysterical and rude" writing on an event devoted to peace.RIGHTS-CHINA: Fire Shows Price of Internet Crackdown
The love-hate relationship of China's Communist Party with cyber-culture came to the fore this weekend, when a midnight blaze swept through a packed Internet cafe in the capital and killed more than 20 youngsters.MEDIA-THAILAND: Struggle for Airwaves Still On
Four months after the government issued a tough warning to community radio stations, a struggle for the airwaves is brewing here between a group of volunteer-based radio stations in the provinces and the central government authorities in Thailand.MOROCCO-PRESS: Parliament Passes Controversial Bill
The Moroccan Press Union, SNPM, has slammed a new press law, adopted by the country's parliament last week, calling it "an unacceptable regression."MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Proposed Press Laws Put Journalists on Guard
Pakistan's government says they are meant to ensure media independence, but local journalists are wary over a new set of press laws that are just waiting for the approval of the federal Cabinet.MEDIA-MOROCCO: New Media Law Under Fire
A new media law currently tabled before the Moroccan parliament has been slammed by the country's journalists who believe the proposed bill will be an additional shackle to the already stumbling press freedom in the North African monarchy.MEDIA-RUSSIA: Russians Shrug Off Press Freedom Concerns
When Russia's last remaining independent national television station, TV6, abruptly went off air recently the event was met by somewhat muted public response.EDUCATION-CUBA: A Computer in Every Classroom
Children in Cuba will begin to familiarise themselves with communications and information technologies in primary school under a government initiative, despite the fact that strict limitations on private use of the Internet remain in place.COMMUNICATION: Brazil Key in Global Digital TV Competition
Brazil has turned into a powerful judge in the global digital television business by delaying its decision to opt from among the three technologies that are competing for the international market.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Thousands of microfinance institutions serve tens of millions of the world's poor, through massive operations in rural South Asia to fledgling enterprises in West African towns. This small-scale loan movement aimed at alleviating poverty can offer life-changing potential for people who would otherwise find it difficult to obtain loans from the traditional banking sector. But microcredit is not a miracle solution to ending global poverty. If high interest rates prevail, putting recipients at risk of repeat borrowing and cycles of debt, microfinance can also have unintended consequences. IPS tracks the spread of microcredit and its impact across the global South.
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IPS gratefully acknowledges the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) and the Microcredit Summit Campaign
