TRADE: EPAs Born of EU’s Concern with China in Africa

The European Union (EU) is concerned about competing with China for access to resources and markets in Africa, which partly explains its drive to hook African states into the trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs).

Q&A: "Simply Not Enough People Committed to Proper Water Management"

Following several incidents that have raised questions about water quality and distribution in South Africa, Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks has tried to allay fears about her department's ability to provide potable water to all South Africans.

TRADE-AFRICA: &#39&#39EPAs Are Not About Partnership&#39&#39

The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated between Europe and its former colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions are not about equal partnerships but about enabling ‘‘big giant Europe to gain better access to African markets’’.

TRADE-AFRICA: International Call for Action Against EPAs

African and international civil society organisations have adopted a call for action, urging the rest of the world to redouble its efforts to stop the European Union's drive to institute economic partnership agreements (EPAs).

RIGHTS: Gender Equality Gets a Drop of the Funding Bucket

The United Nations has never run out of statistics to reinforce its arguments against one of the most troubling issues the world over: gender discrimination.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Demand For Women Legislators High

Women’s rights advocates in the Solomon Islands are urging their government to act on the findings of a recent survey which show that 89 percent of respondents want more women in Parliament.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Lula Calls for Flexibility from Rich Countries

Industrialised nations must live up to their Kyoto Protocol commitments and be flexible in trade negotiations in order for the world to make progress towards solutions to climate change and to prevent the poor from being steeped in poverty for a long time to come, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday.

RWANDA: Cutting Edge HIV/AIDS Prevention Presents Challenges

Certain medical workers in Rwanda have expressed concern about the country's campaign to promote male circumcision as a means of curbing the spread of HIV. They fear that in a country with low levels of knowledge about sexual health, people could mistakenly believe the procedure offers complete protection against the virus.

HEALTH: Most Malnourished Children Aided Too Late

Prevention may be the best medicine of all when it comes to tackling childhood malnutrition, according to a study published this week in the leading medical journal The Lancet.

HEALTH-ARGENTINA: Juicy Hamburgers Threaten Young Kidneys

Famed as one of the world’s leading beef producers, Argentina holds the unfortunate record for the highest incidence of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), an infectious disease caused by bacteria present in incompletely cooked foods, such as hamburgers.

TRADE-UGANDA: Privatisation of Seeds Moving Apace

The Ugandan parliament will soon have a hearing on the draft Plant Variety Protection Bill, approved by the cabinet early last year. If passed unmodified, the bill is likely to entrench the rights of breeders and companies while curtailing the rights of small farmers to exchange, save and breed new varieties using hybrid seeds.

TRADE-UGANDA: Exposing &#39&#39The African Green Revolution&#39&#39

Uganda’s major trade partners are not only looking for food markets but also for seed markets. This has happened in a push that has been packaged as ‘‘the new green revolution’’ by corporations involved in biotechnology and chemicals. They have been supported by philanthropic organizations, notably the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

HEALTH-THAILAND: New Gov&#39t Opposes Cheap Generic Drugs

Shortly before he left office in January, Thailand’s former public health minister, Mongkol Na Songkhla, offered a gift of hope to the country’s poor. But that promise - to supply cheaper, generic anti-cancer drugs -now hangs in the balance.

ENVIRONMENT: Poor May Need Insurance Against Climate Change

The poor may need insurance to deal with humanitarian needs arising from climate change, experts say.

RIGHTS: U.N. Budgeting Bypasses Women

When the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) holds a two-week session beginning next Monday, one of the lingering issues high on the agenda will be the continued under-funding of women’s activities at the United Nations.

KOSOVO: Independence Will Not Improve Economy

The proclamation of independence in Kosovo has brought widespread celebrations among its ethnic Albanians, but also a realisation that economic difficulties remain – and could worsen.

LATIN AMERICA: Gender Stereotypes Still Firmly Entrenched, Despite Progress

Constructing gender equality in Latin American societies remains an apparently arduous task. The issue is still confined to the ivory towers of academia, far away from the media, and is seldom included in the debates that really capture people’s attention.

EUROPE: Forgetting Rights, Looking at Opportunities in Central Asia

With the attention of the world's media rarely turned towards Central Asia, it is easy to forget about the Andijan massacre of May 2005. Several hundred demonstrators died when Uzbek government forces opened fire on a demonstration, in what is believed to be the worst mass killing since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China.

PERU: Poverty Provides Growing Number of ‘Drug Mules’

Anti-drug police at Peru’s "Jorge Chávez" international airport in Lima have had their hands full over the last year, arresting nearly two "mules" a day, each carrying an average of five kg of pure cocaine.

HEALTH-SOUTH ASIA: Hub For Global Organ Trade

The arrest of ‘Doctor Kidney’ Amit Kumar for running a sizeable racket in live kidneys has highlighted the role that South Asia plays as the hub of an international trade in human organs.

PERU: From Shantytown to Model for Urban Development

Peruvian activist María Elena Moyano became a liability in the eyes of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels on Feb. 13, 1992. That was the day she dared to flout the curfew imposed by the insurgents in order to lead a peace march in the streets.