Women, Children Top U.N.’s Anti-Poverty Agenda

All eight of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are critical to development, but numbers four and five on child and maternal health are the real priority areas for this year. That was the main takeaway from a series of briefings with U.N., NGO and country officials in which IPS participated this week.

UNICEF Shifts Gears to Target Poorest of Children

A focus on the children at the very bottom of the economic ladder is the most effective and efficient way to help children and communities in need, concludes a new report from the United Nations children's agency UNICEF released Tuesday.

Gender Equality Goals Miss the Mark, Women’s Groups Say

A month ahead of the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) review summit at the United Nations, some women's groups are voicing concern that member states' commitment to women's issues is insufficient and slowing progress towards gender parity worldwide.

Caribbean Civil Society Unites to Tap EU Development Funds

Roosevelt King, the secretary general of the Barbados Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (BANCO), believes that Caribbean governments have dropped the ball when it comes to their commitment to support the initiatives of civil society.

U.N. Targets “Lost Generation”

Even as the U.N. launched the International Year of Youth last week, one of its agencies was warning of a "lost generation" of disillusioned young workers who are unable to find decent jobs.

Q&A: “NGOs Are Here to Stay”

InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based NGOs, with over 190 members. Its head, Sam Worthington, spoke recently with IPS about the role of NGOs in Haiti, the U.S. and throughout the world.

Pacific Islands Criticise Stalled Climate Financing

Despite the creation of a High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF), a group of hard-hit Pacific islands is expressing doubt that aid will be delivered in a timely manner.

Is Global Poverty Reduction a Political Myth?

When the United Nations hosts a summit meeting of world leaders next September to assess the current state of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is expected to single out one of the major "success stories" of the day: a reduction in global poverty.

Flooded with NGOs, Haiti Looks to Fall Presidential Polls

They descended in droves after the Jan. 12 earthquake devastated the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country, killing an estimated 300,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless.

Latin America Keeps Poverty Goals in Sight Despite Harsh Times

Nine million more people have fallen into poverty in Latin American and Caribbean countries since the global financial crisis struck, threatening the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline, according to a report released Thursday by 18 U.N. agencies.

Activists Slam G8’s Aid Shell Game

The G8 bloc of wealthy nations promised five billion dollars Saturday for health and nutrition programmes that benefit women and children in developing countries.

Time to Give Wall Street the Axe, Say Progressive Groups

As heads of state from the Group of 20 (G20) most developed and economically powerful emerging nations meet in Toronto, Canada this weekend, some activists at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit are urging a more realistic look at the roots of the global economic crisis - and an end to the free-wheeling capitalist model embodied by Wall Street.

U.N. Report Optimistic on Anti-Poverty Strides

Despite the ongoing financial crisis, global poverty rates are expected to fall by half in the next five years compared to 1990, according to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report 2010 launched on Wednesday by Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon.

UNDP Unveils Agenda to Spur Anti-Poverty Goals

After an economic assessment of some 50 countries, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) has come up with a "concrete action agenda" to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Civil Society Pushes for Action Ahead of MDG Review

As a major high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals approaches at U.N. headquarters in September, anti- poverty and human rights activists are stepping up efforts to have their voices heard.

North-South Conservation Divide: “Show Me the Money”

Developing countries rich in plants and animals but poor in financial and technical resources refused to make binding commitments to halt the unraveling of the planet's biological infrastructure at the close of a major meeting Friday at the U.N.'s African headquarters in Nairobi.

World Bank Boosts Commitment to Lower Maternal Mortality

The World Bank intends to ramp up spending on family-planning and related initiatives to reduce maternal mortality, improve reproductive health, and reduce fertility rates in nearly 60 developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new five-year plan released by the Bank here this week.

Crisis Trapping Millions More in Poverty

The global economic crisis is projected to hamper progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and will directly impact MDGs related to hunger, child and maternal health, gender equality, access to clean water and disease control, according to a report released Friday by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Small Farmers to Get Nearly Billion-Dollar Boost

Representatives of the governments of the United States, Canada, Spain and South Korea, along with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, joined together Thursday to launch a 900-million-dollar global trust fund to fight global food insecurity.

Malaria Funding Falls Short of Six-Billion-Dollar Target

As African countries continue their relentless battle against the spread of malaria, a global fund to fight the deadly tropical disease has fallen short of expectations.

HEALTH: Maternal Deaths Drop, but Progress Still “Slow”

One day closer to an ever-approaching deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a Joint Action Plan to improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health on Wednesday, flanked by international leaders and development experts.