POVERTY-AFRICA: Leaders Cannot Close Their Ears

Eight years ago, the leaders of 189 countries pledged to work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, eliminating extreme poverty by 2015. The Stand Up, Take Action Campaign mobilises millions of people around the world to press for action to make this a reality.

SPAIN: Only Banks Get Aid, Anti-Poverty Protesters Complain

"We think it’s disgraceful that billions of dollars are available to bail out banks, and there is no money to eradicate poverty in the world," said Marina Navarro, the spokeswoman for some 1,000 social organisations in Spain taking part in demonstrations against poverty between Friday and Sunday.

DEVELOPMENT: South America Fights Poverty Its Own Way

This year, only a few South American nations have responded to the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and its campaign slogan, "Stand Up and Take Action". The social organisations grouped in the global network point to a variety of reasons to explain the apparent apathy.

Q&A: Marathon Struggle To End Poverty

Since 2005, the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) has mobilised millions of unionists, activists, and ordinary people to demand an end to poverty and inequality.

BRAZIL: Hunger Beats a Steady Retreat

Brazil is winning its battle against hunger thanks to a comprehensive package of food security legislation, institutions and new concepts, in addition to programmes geared towards stimulating more balanced economic growth.

ZIMBABWE: Time To Do The Right Thing

At least 5,000 people are expected to gather in Chitungwiza today to demand improved access to water, sanitation and health services as part of the Stand Up, Take Action Against Poverty campaign.

KENYA: Failing Grade For Free Primary Education?

When in 2003 Kenya followed its neighbours Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi in introducing free and compulsory primary education for all, the response from the public as well as international donors was overwhelming.

DEVELOPMENT: Poverty – Time to Act

"Our voices must reach the ears of the leaders who govern us," says Marina Ponti, describing this year’s campaign by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP).

DEVELOPMENT: Standing Up for Rights

Millions are being called to quite literally stand up for their rights in a global day of action against poverty Friday this week. The organisers are hoping that this simultaneous protest will be a step to collective power.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Activists Say Cholera Due to Failed Leadership

"In my nine years as a nurse, I have never been so devastated. You know how discouraging it is to see people dying before your eyes. And you know very well there is nothing you can do to help them."

POVERTY: Water Wars Hit Rural Zimbabwe

When water experts warned at the turn of the millennium that soon wars will be fought not over oil anymore but over water, little did Zimbabweans know that they would be some of the first people affected by this dire prediction.

WORLD FOOD-DAY-PAKISTAN: Hunger, Poverty Initiatives Suspect

As Pakistan’s food crisis deepens, with an estimated 60 million people facing food insecurity, the GCAP (Global Call to Action Against Poverty) plans to hold rallies through the weekend demanding ‘’public accountability’’ even for hunger and poverty alleviation initiatives.

Q&A: "I Smell A Fantastic Aroma"

As Africa and the rest of the world seek to end the current food crisis - which could get worse with the flu sweeping across global financial markets - it is time Africa made gains from the food crisis.

ZIMBABWE: Food Crisis Worsens

Zimbabwe's agricultural production has been hit by a long list of difficulties - several rounds of severe drought, a collapsed currency that has made fertiliser and other farm inputs very expensive, ill-considered land redistribution, and brutal pre- and post- election violence by the ruling ZANU-PF that has hurt rural populations most.

WORLD FOOD DAY: Eating Less, Paying More

Despite wall-to-wall media coverage of the financial crisis rocking the U.S. and, increasingly, other financial systems around the world, a crisis with a larger scope is brewing with little attention.

WORLD FOOD DAY: Zambia's Women Farmers Demand Policy Changes

Zambia's tens of thousands of peasant farmers are crucial to the country's food security, yet they have little voice in agricultural policy. Cecilia Violet Makota is one of the rare exceptions.

WORLD FOOD DAY-LATAM: Learning Lessons

"We can’t wait for crises to happen to start guaranteeing the right to food. We have to act before a crisis hits," José Graziano da Silva, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, told IPS.

FINANCE: Meltdown Could Derail U.N. Development Agenda

When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was asked by reporters whether the U.N.'s cash-strapped development agenda would survive the global financial crisis, he pointed out that only last month world leaders meeting at the United Nations had pledged about 16 billion dollars towards fighting poverty and hunger, as spelled out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

HEALTH-AFRICA: Time for Joint Action on HIV/AIDS and Violence

The war against HIV/AIDS, it is emerging, will not be won unless sexual and gender-based violence is tackled.

TRADE-MALAWI: The ABC of Being a Successful Business Woman

Through hard work and resilience, Malawian entrepreneur Mary Phombeya has developed her once small and struggling business outfit into a fully fledged company. She imports fashionable clothes – for women, children and men – from Dubai, Thailand and Hong Kong which she sells locally.

DEVELOPMENT: A Billion Hungry People Need Rescue Plan Too

Relief for the world's hungry remains a distant prospect, with this year's "Global Hunger Index" (GHI) attesting that even before the ongoing food crisis, 33 countries had "alarming" or "extremely alarming" levels of hunger.