South-South

WTO Chooses New Latin American Chief to Mark a Change in Course

By Gustavo Capdevila
Brazilian diplomat Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo was named the new director general of the WTO with broad support from the developing world, beating out his Mexican rival Herminio Blanco, who was backed by the industrialised nations.

Developing Resilience to Financial Shocks

By Supachai Panitchpakdi
The global repercussions of the 2007-2008 financial crisis are a stark reminder of the economic interdependence in our globalising world. No country was spared from the shock waves that originated in the financial systems of developed economies.

Institutional Tangles, Deindustrialisation Hurt Mercosur

By Mario Osava
July will mark the start of a new era for the Common Southern Market (Mercosur), when it will expand to five full members, if the South American bloc manages to overcome the commotion caused by the admission of Venezuela and the suspension of Paraguay.

Climate Change Adaptation: A Race Against Time

By Naimul Haq
Adaptation and mitigation. Identified by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and by scientists as the two major responses to address the problem, these were also the twin preoccupations of a climate change conference held recently in Dhaka.

OP-ED: War and Peace in Colombia and Venezuela

By Clara Nieto
The crisis in Venezuela caused by the violent opposition of followers of Henrique Capriles, who is accusing President Nicolás Maduro of election fraud, and peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas in Havana, are occupying the attention of national and foreign media.

Lessons in Economic Integration for African Union

By John Fraser
As the African Union celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it is still younger and less integrated than the 56-year-old body that is now the European Union, and, according to politicians and diplomats, has a big advantage over the Europeans as it charts its own path of integration.

Dominican Women in Argentina Especially Vulnerable

By Marcela Valente
Despite the enormous distance between the two countries, Argentina has become an increasingly frequent destination for migrants from the Dominican Republic, especially women, who are vulnerable to falling prey to sexual exploitation networks.

U.N. Accused of Playing Down Nuke Disarmament Conference

By Thalif Deen
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is one of the most vociferous advocates of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Azerbaijan’s Israel Diplomatic Trip Tweaks Tehran

By Shahin Abbasov
Azerbaijan in late April crossed a self-imposed “red line” in its relations with southern neighbour Iran by dispatching Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on a visit to Israel, Tehran’s arch-foe. Reasons for the timing of the move are not clear, but, so far, Tehran appears to be biding its time with a response.

Waste Pickers in Colombia Earn Formal Recognition

By Constanza Vieira
Nora Padilla, one of the six winners of this year’s Goldman environmental prize, dedicates her days to organising informal recyclers in the Colombian capital, where the city’s eight million inhabitants are just now reluctantly starting to classify their garbage at source.

Iranian Diplomat Confirmed Arrested in Tehran

By Omid Memarian
More than seven weeks after the secretive arrest of prominent Iranian diplomat Bagher Asadi, an Iranian official confirmed his detention Thursday, although he declined to provide further details.

WTO, Dubious Prize for a Latin American?

By Gustavo Capdevila
The complicated challenge of invigorating the debilitated World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the multilateral trade system that it governs will fall, for the next four years and for the first time ever, to a Latin American.

Over 100 Million Women Lead Migrant Workers Worldwide

By Thalif Deen
The face of migration is changing dramatically as women and girls now represent about half of the over 214 million migrants worldwide.

Carbon Credits Could Finance Improved Cookstoves in Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
Environmental organisations in Mexico are hoping to finance the promotion of fuel-efficient wood-fired cookstoves, which reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, through the sale of carbon credits on the voluntary market.

China Outranks West to Grab Top Spot in Global Tourism

By Thalif Deen
China, which has outranked Japan as the world's second largest economy and moved ahead of Russia as the world's second largest military spender, has hit the top spot in global tourism.

UNASUR Backs Venezuelan President-elect and Calls for Peace

By Ángel Páez
Nicolás Maduro was recognised as president-elect of Venezuela by a Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) emergency summit held in Lima to discuss the situation in the highly polarised country, where a narrow electoral result triggered social and political tension.

Activist Shareholders Slam Brazilian Mining Giant

By Fabíola Ortiz
Representatives of social movements and communities affected by Brazilian mining company Vale's operations have bought shares in the company, to make their voices heard.

OP-ED: Azerbaijan and Iran: A Soft-Power Struggle?

By Eldar Mamedov
There's a coffee shop in an out-of-the-way part of Baku where the walls are covered with illustrations from an early 20th century satirical magazine called Molla Nasreddin. The magazine represents a bygone era, when Azerbaijan was a font of new cultural trends in the Muslim world, pioneering such issues as female emancipation, anti-clericalism, anti-colonialism and labour rights.

Q&A: Moving Away from “Elite Multilateralism”

By Marzieh Goudarzi
As the global South claims a greater share of the world's GDP, is it also progressing in terms of overall human development? How has this southward tipping of the scale affected the dynamics of international trade? What is the role of global governance in mediating this period of change?

U.N.’s Dollar-a-Year Jobs Under Critical Scrutiny

By Thalif Deen
The 132-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing nations, is challenging the longstanding prerogative of successive U.N. secretaries-general to appoint "special envoys" whose services are deemed gratis - and who are on nominal "one-dollar-a-year" employment contracts.

Q&A: A Healthy Verdict from India

By Gustavo Capdevila
India’s refusal to grant patent protection for the anti-cancer drug Glivec, developed by Swiss drugmaker Novartis, is a victory for the developing world, which depends on low-cost exports of generic medicines from the Asian giant, said public health specialist Germán Velásquez.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*