DEVELOPMENT: Global Campaign Calls for Tackling the Roots of Poverty

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) made a commitment in Uruguay Saturday to extend their campaign until 2015, and to emphasise the structural causes that determine that over one billion people in the world are living in extreme poverty.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Neglecting Ancient Reservoirs Carries a Price

The carved granite pagodas that dominate this town in southern Tamil Nadu state have earned it a place on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. Less noticeable, though, are the vast reservoirs that once took care of the water requirements of this millennia-old cultural centre.

PERU: Farmers, Informal Gold Miners Clash Over Pollution

There is a cemetery at the foot of this hill full of gold and silver near the village of Algamarca in northwestern Peru - an indication of the risks involved in informal mining, which uses highly toxic substances like cyanide and mercury.

DEVELOPMENT: Fight Against Poverty – a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Combating poverty is more like a long distance race than a sprint, and in the past two years progress has been made that would have been unthinkable decades ago. But much remains to be done, say activists from all over the world who have gathered together in the Uruguayan capital.

VENEZUELA: The Gift of Native Tongues, On the Air

Eiker García and Nelson Maldonado took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, producing a long "mmm" sound, following the instructions of the professional radio presenter who was giving them breathing and elocution lessons.

RIGHTS-CENTRAL AMERICA: Turning Back to a Murky Past?

Social inequality is on the rise in Central America, and the region is backsliding with respect to the standards set forth in the American Convention on Human Rights, according to activists and analysts.

COTE D’IVOIRE: New Farms, New Lives – At an Environmental Cost

For Katienéfoha Yéo, two decades of cotton farming that resulted in nothing but debt were enough to get him on the road, out of Tanikaha in northern Côte d'Ivoire to Sarala in the west.

BIODIVERSITY: Farming Will Make or Break the Food Chain

As the world population swells to nine billion by 2050, global biodiversity will be under extreme pressure unless new ways to grow food are developed, experts say.

DEVELOPMENT-GUATEMALA: Fair Trade Begins to Bear Fruit

The living and working conditions of thousands of small farmers in Guatemala have seen much improvement since they joined the "fair trade" system, which sets new rules for the game in an otherwise difficult global market.

Q&A: “You Have to Work Nine to Ten Times Harder Than a Male Farmer”

As activists focus on the challenges facing workers this May Day (May 1), Martha Moside is calling for attention to be paid to the situation of female subsistence farmers in South Africa.

MAY DAY-BOLIVIA: New Style Work Force

The May 1 Labour Day marches in the Bolivian capital were a memorable sight two decades ago, a real celebration of workers' unity, led by thousands of helmeted miners carrying their drills. But today the workers' movement is a shadow of its former self, and the present generation of workers, out of necessity, are dispersed in new kinds of occupations.

MAY DAY-KENYA: Export Processing Zones Still a Bone of Contention

With working conditions around the world set to be placed in the spotlight on May Day (May 1), Emily Mugo has an axe to grind about her place of employment - in one of Kenya's Export Processing Zones (EPZs).

DEVELOPMENT-BRAZIL: Rural Residents Find Riches in Saltwater

A village in Brazil's dry Northeast region is putting to the test a project that began with machine to desalinise the little water available, and has ended up creating food and income and promoting sustainable agriculture.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Pulling Stunts To End AIDS Ignorance

For six weeks, Andre van Zijl has been pumping petrol around the clock at a gas station in the picturesque seaside town Knysna on South Africa's south coast. Why? To raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.

MIGRATION-BOLIVIA: How to Harness Growing Remittances

Like footballers in Argentina, emigrants start out young, Abdón Linares likes to say about his home province in central Bolivia, where the economy has come to depend heavily on expatriate remittances.

LABOUR-SPAIN: Immigrants’ Plight Ignored by Unions Ahead of May Day

The conditions faced by immigrants in Spain, who despite their contribution to the economy are the most vulnerable when it comes to labour rights, have not even been mentioned in the demands and grievances voiced by the country's trade union federations as they prepare for May 1, International Labour Day.

Q&A: In Benin, “People Exploit What They Want, As They Want”

For many people, the importing of tomatoes is probably not a topic of great fascination. But then, they're not Sylvestre Fandohan.

HEALTH-U.S.: City Takes Aim at Hepatitis Among Asian Americans

This west-coast city has earned a reputation as a health trendsetter. Last year, San Francisco unveiled a plan to offer universal health care to all its residents (to take effect Jul. 1). Now it has become the first U.S. city to launch a plan to test and vaccinate all Asian and Pacific Islander American residents for hepatitis B.

DEVELOPMENT-BOTSWANA: ”Will the MDGs Help Me Find a Job?”

Batswana are divided about the viability of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In random interviews, IPS found some arguing that the MDGs are elitist ideas unattainable in reality while others contend that the MDGs can be used to address socio-economic problems.

TRADE-ZIMBABWE: ”Look East” Policy Yet to Bear Fruit

Zimbabwe's isolation by its traditional international trading partners after 2000 has hit the country hard amid failure to strike up new bilateral trade deals as part of its ''look east'' trade strategy.

FINANCE: Activists Decry Bank’s Loan Approval for Uganda Dam

Brushing aside concerns from environmentalists and rights groups, the World Bank said Thursday it will support the controversial Bujagali dam in Uganda with 360 million dollars in loans and guarantees.