MEDIA: Tierramerica Awarded Zayed Prize for the Environment

The specialised weekly news service on the environment and development, Tierramérica, was awarded the Zayed International Prize in the category of Environmental Action Leading to Positive Change in Society, which is granted by the United Arab Emirates.

ENVIRONMENT-BURMA: 'Mangrove Loss Exacerbated Cyclone Devastation'

When researchers surveyed the battered coastlines of Asian countries after the December 2004 tsunami, they stumbled upon an arresting fact - that mangroves can save lives.

EUROPE: Most Countries Fail to Increase Aid

Over half of the European Union's 27 governments failed to increase the amount of aid they gave to poor countries between 2006 and last year, according to a new report.

PAKISTAN: Water – At Much More Than a Turn of the Tap

For the uninitiated, it’s surreal: men and boys stepping out of their homes into the unpaved and narrow alleys of the Korangi Dhai slum in the wee hours before dawn, armed with rolls of colourful plastic tubing and heavy electric pumps.

EL SALVADOR: Poor Eating Less While Food Prices Soar

Eating less is the only option left to the poorest of the poor in El Salvador, in the face of the steady rise in global food prices, which has had an impact on the domestic cost of staples like rice, beans, tortillas, milk, eggs and bread.

DEVELOPMENT: U.S. Might Just Choke the WHO

As the 61st annual World Health Assembly gathers in Geneva this week, a major issue that the world's governments are struggling with is patents on medicines, and whether the option to digress from a strict patent system should be endorsed by the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO).

MEXICO-US: The Perverse Patent of the Yellow Bean

Patenting an invention in the United States and benefiting from the patent rights is, in theory, an incentive for innovation and scientific discovery. But in practice it can spur theft, as occurred with a variety of Mexican bean.

PARAGUAY: Women’s Cooperative Buys in Bulk to Beat Food Inflation

Making the old saying "cheaper by the dozen" their motto, a group of women in a poor neighbourhood of Asunción created a cooperative to buy food in bulk, in order to combat the rise in food prices.

Q&A: South Africa To Reconsider Its Trade Agreement With EU?

As a result of the free trade agreements with the European Union, called economic partnership agreements, regional integration in Southern Africa is in tatters (see accompanying article - link below). The question arises: what kind of integration would engender broad-based development?

Q&A: "People Are Pedaling Faster to Stay in the Same Place"

In early May, Statistics Canada, the government's official number crunchers, released what was billed as a landmark report titled "Income Inequality and Redistribution in Canada: 1976 to 2004". The report was based on census data from the 1980s to 2005 and it analysed take-home pay and standards of living for families and individuals.

FINANCE: IMF “Cure” for Food Crisis Also a Cause

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is responding to the global food crisis by doling out new emergency loans to 15 of the world's poorest nations, mostly in Africa.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Rippling Out Like a “Tsunami”

"A rolling tsunami of social unrest is underway as we speak - hungry people are desperate people capable of taking desperate actions. This tsunami is rapidly enveloping the global South, and it won't take much longer before it knocks at the door of the global North," warned Vicente Garcia-Delgado, the U.N. representative for CIVICUS, the world alliance for citizen participation.

TRADE: COMESA Summit in Balance Because of Zimbabwe Chaos

Zimbabwe, which is in a political and financial tailspin, has missed out on an opportunity to save some of its tattered international reputation. The Common Market for East and Southern Africa’s (COMESA) 13th summit would have taken place in the country’s north-eastern resort town of Victoria Falls but has been postponed indefinitely.

DEVELOPMENT: UN Sees Major Successes in Child Survival

The developing world is making significant progress in child survival despite the fact that nearly 2.2 billion children worldwide continue to battle poverty, sexual abuse, forced military conscription, labour exploitation and HIV/AIDS.

CAMBODIA: Seeing Opportunity in Rising Food Prices

Cambodian government sees opportunity for this impoverished country in the global rise in food prices that could help turn the fortunes for its agrarian economy.

TRADE-AFRICA: EPA Threatens to Tear Apart Oldest Customs Union

The fate of the world’s oldest customs union, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), is hanging in the balance as a result of the economic partnership agreements that most SACU countries have signed with the European Union (EU).

PERU: Women – The Guardians of Potato Biodiversity

In South America’s Andes mountain region, indigenous women have traditionally been responsible for selecting, conserving and managing seed potatoes from the countless native varieties of the crop, thus ensuring diversity and continued production while contributing to food security among their people.

SPAIN: Fight Against Domestic Violence only Strong on Paper

While domestic violence in Spain is becoming more and more visible, the country’s laws and justice system are proving weak instruments to fight the phenomenon, according to experts from different fields who are demanding further legal reforms to address the issue.

TRADE-MALAWI: Aid Will Not Be Conditional Upon Signing of EPAs

The European Commission (EC) has assured Malawi that the country will continue receiving cooperation aid even if it does not sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union.

PERU: Summit Discusses Climate Change as Glaciers Melt

Peru is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, which is already having perceptible effects in this country. According to a report by the National Environment Council (CONAM), the area of glaciers in the Andes has shrunk from 2,042 to 1,596 square kilometres in just 25 years.

CULTURE-CHILE: Free Book Selections for 400,000 Families

The Chilean government has begun distributing carefully selected packages of books to thousands of low-income families. But the programme aimed at promoting reading is not without its detractors, who question the extent of its real impact.